kivfs^y-  ' 

-  •  -  A  •••A>MKt&$tvs&  tt/r~  • 


NUMBER    ONE, 


Chicago  Antiquities. 


INCLUDING 


Chicago  Business  Directory 


FOR     1839. 


PUBLISHED  BY  EASTMAN  &  BARTLETT, 

132  Clark  Street. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875, 

BY  HENRY  H.  HURLBUT, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Introduction. 


Under  the  name  of  "  Antiquities,"  we  purpose  to  compile  a  series  of  pamphlets 
relating  to  early  Chicago,  if  indeed  so  young  a  town  may  lay  claim  to  so  dignified  a 
term.  Our  antiquities,  ho%vever,  are  of  rather  a  different  stamp  from  those  of  the 
European  world,  for  we  may  not  boast  of  massive  castle  walls,  ivy-clothed,  tradition- 
wrapped,  and  crumbling  beneath  the  weight  of  centuries.  The  corner  stones  of 
antiquity,  yonder,  were  laid  in  the  mists  of  a  shadowy  past ;  here,  the  morning  beams 
which  dawned  in  the  beginning  have  not  reached  the  evening  twilight  of  dim  un- 
certainty. The  names  of  the  founders  of  our  American  towns,  together  with  the 
circumstances  attending  such  beginnings,  have  been  usually  preserved  ;  those  of  the 
cities  of  the  old  world  are  mostly  hidden  beneath  the  myths,  superstitions  and 
vague  tales  of  a  remote  and  departed  age. 

It  is  true  that  not  fifty  years  have  passed,  since  some  of  our  remaining  early  settlers 
saw  the  young  town  dressed  in  the  swaddling  clothes  of  village  incorporation  ;  but 
a  few  decades  have  effected  here  what  in  most  other  cases  the  efforts  of  centuries 
have  been  required  to  accomplish.  Yet  the  swiftly  hurrying  years  have  already 
brought  around  another  and  a  new  generation,  who,  though  "  to  the  manor  born," 
speak  of  the  primitive  days  of  our  city  as  "  the  olden  time."  To  such  at  least,  our 
series  (which  will  contain  many  new  or  unfamiliar  chapters)  svill  be  of  interest. 

We  would  not,  by  any  means,  undervalue  the  culture  which  disciplines  the  in- 
tellect and  stores  the  mind  with  the  lore  and  mythical  tales  and  antiquities  of  the 
storied  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  j  but,  for  our  particular  and  individual  self,  we 
must  confess  that  we  are  far  less  tenacious  of  the  memory  of  any  of  those  illustrious 
humbugs  told  of  in  the  classics,  than  of  that  of  the  early  Chicago  resident  and  first 
proprietor  of  the  old  "  Kinzie  House,"  Baptiste  Point  de  Sable  (he  was  here  as 
early  as  1779),  the  handsome,  colossal,  and  opulent  black  prince  of  the  North 
Division  ;  albeit,  he  was  a  swaggering  Domingoan,  and,  like  many  other  great  men, 
drank  too  much  rum.  We  have  heard  of  Midas,  and  Croesus,  and  Trismegistus,  as 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

well  as  of  old  Vulcan,  but  ho\v  little  regard  ought  we  to  pay  to  the  fame  of  those 
unreliable  alchemists  and  artisans,  when  contrasted  with  that  of  our  pioneer,  the 
elder  John  Kinzie,  the  veritable  "  Shaw-nee-aw-kee,"  the  "  silver-man  "  of  the  tribes 
of  the  Illinois.  And  concerning  that  memorable  scow-boat 

"  *  *  *  *  *  the  Argo, 

That  Jason  embarked  in  for  the  '  golden  fleece,' 
For  whether  that  wool  became  part  of  her  cargo, 

We've  little  to  look  for  in  the  myths  of  old  Greece." 

Indeed,  to  a  Chicagoan,  of  little  interest  must  be  the  whole  yarn  about  the  "  gol- 
den fleece,"  when  compared  with  the  story  which  the  venerable  Gurdon  S.  Hub- 
bard  might  tell  us  of  his  journeyings,  and  of  the  fleeces,  those  packs,  bales,  pony- 
loads,  and  canoe-cargoes  of  fine  furs  which  he  gathered  in  all  the  lake  region,  and 
along  the  two  hundred-mile  trail,  that  he  in  person  laid  out,  forty-nine  years  ago, 
through  the  wilderness,  from  Fort  Dearborn  to  the  Kaskaskia  River. 

Our  plan  in  issuing  the  papers  comprising  the  series  here  proposed  will  be 
rather  a  discursive  one  ;  not  that  of  annals,  not  a  consecutive  history,  indeed  not  so 
much  a  history  as  material  for  history.  Not  an  edifice  in  historic  detail,  of  lofty  and 
comely  proportions,  but  rather  a  group  of  structures  of  varied,  though  relative, 
architecture.  H.  H.  H. 

JANUARY  21,   1875. 


Chicago  Antiquities. 

NUMBER  ONE. 


Extracts  from  Early  City  Ordinances. 
Business  Directory,  1839. 


In  this  initial  number  we  present  some  account  and  in  part  a  transcript  of 
a  noticeable  relic,  which  has  come  within  the  range  of  our  knowledge  and 
inspection.  It  is,  without  doubt,  of  considerable  rarity,  and  we  should  not  know 
where  to  find  its  duplicate  in  the  city.  We  are  referring  to  a  publication  issued 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1839,  the  title-page  of  which  is  as  follows; 


THE 

LAWS  AND  ORDINANCES 

OF    THE 

CITY    OF   CHICAGO. 


PASSED    IN    COMMON    COUNCIL 


[CITY  SEAL.] 


CHICAGO: 

PRINTED    BY    EDWARD    H.    RUDD. 


MDCCCXXXIX. 


6  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

Fifty-two  octavo  pages  comprised  not  only  the  "  Laws  and  Ordinances,"  but 
also  a  "  City  Register,"  (a  list  of  city  officers,)  and  a  "  Chicago  Business  Directory," 
together  with  some  half  dozen  pages  of  advertisements. 

We  present  a  few  extracts  from  the  said  "  Ordinances  ;  "  to-day  they  might  be 
deemed  curious,  severe,  or  possibly  a  little  whimsical.  The  "  Business  Directory" 
is  here  reproduced  as  first  printed,  with  an  occasional  note  of  correction,  and  with 
the  addition  of  a  star  (*)  against  the  names  of  those  whom  we  know  to  have  passed 
from  earth  to  that  "  other  shore."  This  Directory  was  the  first  attempt  which 
succeeded  the  numbering  of  the  buildings,  though  that  numbering  was  only  upon 
Lake  Street.  [The  statement  sometimes  made,  that  "  Norris"  Chicago  Directory 
and  Business  Advertiser"  for  the  year  1844  was  the  first  Directory  ever  published 
in  Chicago,  is  certainly  an  error.] 

Agreeable  to  the  statute  for  the  incorporation  of  towns,  an  election  was  held  in 
Chicago  August  10,  1833,  for  the  choice  of  trustees  of  the  village  ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  there  were  twenty-eight  votes  polled  on  that  occasion.  Chicago  was 
incorporated  as  a  city  March  4,  1837.  The  population  in  1839  did  not  exceed  4,500 
in  number.  A  shipment  of  2,673  bushels  of  wheat  was  made  that  year —  the  first, 
(excepting  78  bushels  the  year  preceding),  for  it  took  everything,  and  more,  that  was 
raised  in  the  vicinity,  from  1835  to  '38,  for  the  use  of  the  incoming  settlers.  The 
first  daily  newspaper,  (The  Chicago  Daily  American,  Wm.  Stuart,  editor  and  propri- 
etor), appeared  this  year,  the  first  number  bearing  date  April  9, 1839.  Among  other 
important  events  of  that  year,  in  which  Chicago  and  the  whole  western  country  were 
to  become  interested,  was  the  incorporation  by  the  Wisconsin  Territorial  Legislature 
of  The  Wisconsin  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Company.  This  institution  set  sail 
under  the  command  of  George  Smith  as  captain,  and  Alexander  Mitchell  as  lieu- 
tenant, with  the  aid  of  ballast  from  their  Scottish  iriends  of  Aberdeen.  But,  instead 
of  an  insurance  company,  it  resulted  in  a  rather  stupendous  bank  of  issue,  vastly  to 
the  profit  of  the  stockholders,  and  of  no  little  service  to  the  people  of  the  lake 
country  and  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Almost  one-half  of  the  277  names  of  individuals  or  firms  of  the  following 
Directory  were  located  on  Lake  Street ;  but  Chicago  then,  as  to-day,  felt  her  rising 
importance,  and,  nearing  the  end  of  Anno  Domini  1839,  she  published  this  record 
of  her  greatness,  and  looked  trustfully  forward  to  the  beckoning  future. 


Extracts  from   "The  Laws   and  Ordi- 
nances." 

"  FOR  THE  PROTECTION  OF  LIFE  AND  LIMB. 

SECTION  2.  No  person  shall  ride  or  drive  any  horse 
or  horses  in  any  avenue,  street  or  lane  within  this  city 
faster  than  a  moderate  trot."  (Passed  May  12,  1837.^ 

[The  "  moderate  trot "  of  the  above  ordinance  was  a  gait  that  has  not  survived 
to  the  present  day  ;  witness,  for  instance,  the  "  two-thirty  "  Chicago  nags  on  West 
Washington  Street  any  fair  afternoon  when  a  few  inches  of  snow  may  have  put  in 
an  appearance.] 

"OF  THE  EXTINGUISHMENT  OF  FIRES. 

SECTION  30.  *  *  The  citizens  and  inhabitants  shall 
respectively,  if  the  fire  happens  at  night,  place  a  lighted 
candle  or  lamp  at  the  front  door  or  windows  of  their  res- 
pective dwellings,  there  to  remain  during  the  night,  un- 
less the  fire  be  sooner  extinguished. 

SEC.  34.  Every  dwelling  house  or  other  building 
containing  one  fire-place  or  stove,  shall  have  one  good 
painted  leathern  fire  bucket,  with  the  initials  of  the 
owners  name  parted  thereon,  etc. 

SEC.  35.  That  every  able  bodied  inhabitant  shall, 
upon  an  alarm  of  fire,  repair  to  the  place  of  the  fire 
with  his  fire-bucket  or  buckets,  if  he  shall  have  any,  etc. 


Q  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

v 

SEC.  36.  Every  occupant  of  any  building  shall  keep 
the  aforesaid  fire  buckets  in  the  front  hall  of  said 
building,  etc."  (Passed May  12,  1837.^ 

"DIRECTING  CERTAIN  PUBLIC  IMPROVEMENTS. 

SEC.  3.  The  said  city  surveyor  is  further  directed  to 
survey,  describe,  and  record  in  manner  aforesaid,  a  street 
eighty  feet  wide,  which  shall  be  called  "  Hoosier  Avenue," 
which  shall  commence  on  the  west  line  of  section  six- 
teen, on  Second-street,  and  run  in  a  south-westerly 
course  to  the  bounds  of  the  city,  in  the  direction  to 
cross  the  Canal  at  Canalport,  in  some  eligible  place  so 
as  to  intersect  the  State  road  in  that  direction."  (Passed 
June  i,  1837.^ 

"  AN  ORDINANCE  TO  NUMBER  LAKE  STREET. 

SEC.  i.  Beginning  at  the  south-west  corner  of  Lake- 
street  and  Michigan  Avenue  as  number  one,  and  at  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  same  street  as  number  two,  and 
thence  numbering  successively  westwardly  to  the  south 
branch  of  the  Chicago  River.  The  buildings  to  be  num- 
bered as  far  as  State-st,  according  to  the  lots  as  laid  out 
and  sold  by  the  agent  of  the  United  States,  one  number 
for  each  lot.  West  of  State-street,  the  buildings  are  to  be 
numbered  one  number  for  every  20  feet  of  each  block. 
The  odd  numbers  to  be  on  the  south-side,  and  the  even 
numbers  on  the  north  side  of  Lake-street,  according  to 
the  plan  of  Lake-street,  as  laid  out  and  numbered  by 
the  street  commissioner,  and  on  file  with  the  city  clerk." 
( Passed  Nov.  12,  1839.^ 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  9 

"  CONCERNING  BILLIARD  TABLES  AND  BALL  ALLIES. 

SECTION  i.  That  there  shall  be  no  billiard  table  or 
tables  set  up  or  used  in  said  city,  from  and  after  the  I5th 
day  of  May  next. 

SEC.  2.  That  there  shall  be  no  nine  pin  allies,  or  any 
ball  alley  where  pins  are  used,  sit  up  or  used,  in  the  said 
city  of  Chicago  from  and  after  the  1 5th  day  of  May  next." 
( Passed  April  22,  1839.^ 

"  That  in  addition  to  the  penalties  already  imposed  by 
the  ordinance  to  which  this  is  an  amendment,  if  any 
owner  or  keeper  of  any  billiard  table  or  ball  alley  or  ten 
pin  alley  shall  suffer  the  same  to  be  used  or  played 
upon  after  the  hour  of  i o  o'clock  P.M.,  he  shall  forfeit  and 
pay  to  the  city  of  Chicago  the  sum  of  five  dollars  for 
each  offence,  with  costs  of  suit."  ( Passed  Dec.  9,  1839.^ 

"OF    NUISANCES    AND     THE    PRESERVATION    OF 
GOOD  ORDER. 

SECTION  4.  Any  person  who  shall  solicit  alms,  with- 
out a  written  permission  from  the  Mayor,  from  citizens, 
shall  pay  a  penalty  for  each  offense  of  two  dollars.'' 
( Passed  May  12,  1837.^ 

"  TO  COMPEL  THE  ATTENDANCE  OF  MEMBERS. 

SECTION  3.  Any  member  of  said  Common  Council 
who  shall  absent  himself  from  the  meetingr  of  the  Coun- 

o 

cil,  after  the  same  shall  have  been  duly  organised  for 
that  meeting,  without  having  first  obtained  leave  of  the 
Mayor  or  Council  for  that  purpose,  shall  for  each  offence 
forfeit  and  pay  to  said  city  the  sum  of  ten  dollars." 
( Passed  Dec.  2,  1839.^ 


CITY  REGISTER,  1839. 


BENJAMIN    W.    RAYMOND,    MAYOR. 

ALDERMEN,  FIRST  WARD.         ALDERMEN,  FOURTH  WARD. 

James  A.  Smith,  John  Murphy, 

Oliver  H.  Thompson.  Asahel  Pierce. 

ALDERMEN,  SECOND  WARD.  ALDERMEN,  FIFTH   WARD. 

Eli  S.  Prescott,  Henry  S.  Rucker, 

Clement  C.  Stoce.  John  C.  Wilson. 

ALDERMEN,  THIRD  WARD.  ALDERMEN,  SIXTH  WARD. 

William  H.  Stow,  John  H.  Kinzie, 

Ira  Miltimore.  Buckner  S.  Moris. 

Samuel  J.  Lowe,  High  Constable. 
Assessors.  Assessors. 

ist  Ward,  Alvin  Calhoun.  4th  Ward,  John  Gray. 

2d    ,  Thomas  Brock.  5th   ,  James  Duffy. 

3d    — 2 — ,  Thomas  C.  James.  6th   ,  Jacob  Raynor. 

Alvin  Calhoun,  Chief  Engineer. 
Charles  T.  Stanton,  Geo.  Chacksfield,  Ass't  Engineers. 

Wm.  W.  Brackett,  City  Clerk. 

Erastus  Bowen,  Collector.  Geo.  W.  Dole,  Treasurer. 

Charles  M.  Gray,  Street  Commissioner. 

S.  Lisle  Smith,  City  Attorney. 

Charles  V.  Dyer,  City  Physician. 

Asa  F.  Bradley,  City  Surveyor. 

George  Davis,  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures. 

SCHOOL  INSPECTORS. 

Peter  Bolles,  John    Scott,  J.  Y.  Scammon, 

David   Moore,  Daniel  Elston,  Wm.  H.  Brown, 

Nathan  H.  Bolles. 

Police  Constables. 

Samuel  J.  Lowe,  D.  C.   Allen, 

Daniel  B.   Heartt,  George  M.  Huntoon. 

Fire  Wardens. 
ist  Ward,  N.  H.  Bolles.  4th  Ward,  John  Miller. 

2d    ,  Jerem.  Price.  5th    ,  David  Moore. 

5d    — — ,  John  Gray.  6th   ,  Alonzo  Wood. 

Drs.  Brainard,  Gray  and  Betts,  Board  of  Health. 


[A    REPRINT.] 

Chicago  Business  Directory. 


Adams,  William  H.,  shoe  and  leather  dealer,  138  lake  street, 

Arnold,  Isaac  N.,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  dearborn  street, 

*Abel,  Sidney,  postmaster,  office,  dark  street, 

Allen,  J.  P.,  boot  and  shoe  maker,  north  water  street, 

Attwood,  J.  M.,  house,  sign  and  ornamental  painter,  randolph  street, 

Bristol  &  Porter,  agents  for  C.  M.  Reed,  forward,  commis,  merchants, 

\*  Robert  C.  Bristol;  Hibbard  Porter^ 
*Beaubien,  J.  B.  Esq.,  reservation,  fronting  the  lake, 
Blassy,  B.,  baker,  randolph  street, 

*Boyce,  L.  M.,  wholesale  druggist  and  apothecary,  121  lake  street, 
Brackett,  William  W.  city  clerk,  clark  street, 
*Brown,  Henry,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  clark  street, 
Bancroft  J.  W.  &  Co.,  lake  street  coffee  house,  135,  lake  street, 
Beecher,  J.,  boot  and  shoe  maker  and  leather  dealer,  160  lake  street, 
Burley,  A.  G.,  crockery,  stone  and  earthenware  merchant,  161  lake  st. 
Bates  &  Morgan,  cabinet  makers,  199   lake  street,     \A.  S*  Bates ; 

Caleb  Morgan^\ 
Botsford  &  Beers,  copper,  tin  and    sheetiron  merchants,  dearborn 

street, 

*Brinkerhoff,  Dr.  John,  clark  street, 
*Betts.  Dr.,  residence  and  office  michigan  street, 
*Bro\vn,  William  H.,  cashier,  Illinois  branch  state  bank,lasalle  street, 
*Boyer,  J.  K.,  coroner,  south  water  street,     [John  K.  B^\ 
Beaumont  &  Skinner,  attorneys  and  counsellors  at  law,  clark  street, 

(*Geo.  A,  O.  Beaumont ;  Mark  Skinner •.] 
Balestier,  J.  N.,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  clark  street. 


12  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

*Burton,  Stiles,  wholesale  grocer  and  liquor  dealer,  lake  and  state 

strs. 

*Bowen,  Erastus,  city  collector,  foot  of  south  water  street, 
Berry  B.  A.  &  Co.,  dry  goods  and  grocery  store,  south  water  street, 
Bradley,  Asa  F.,  city  surveyor,  morrison's  row,  clark  street, 
Brady,  George,  constable,  alley  between    north  water    and  kinzie 

streets, 
Briggs  &  Humphrey,  carriage  and  wagon  makers,  randolph  street, 

\*J3enJ.  Briggs  j  J.  O.  Humphrey '.] 

*Butterfield,  Justin,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  dearborn  street, 
*Bolles,  Nathan    H.,    county  commissioner,  overseer  of  poor,  lake 

street, 

Bethune,  Andrew,  Parisian  dyer  and  scourer,  north  water  street, 
Carter  T.  B.  &  Co.,  fancy  dry  goods  merchants,  118  lake  street, 
Clarke,  W.  H.  &  A.  F.,  wholesale  druggists  &  apothecaries,  128  lake 

St. 

Cole,  A.,  ship,  house,  sign,  and  ornamental  painter,  129  lake  street, 
*Carney,  John,  grocery  and  provision  store,  133  lake  street,       [James 

Carney} 

*Cure,  P.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  randolph  street, 
*Curtiss,  James,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  175  lake  street. 
Clever,  J.,  soap  boiler,  factory  on  the  south  branch,  [Charles  Cleaver.} 
Collins  S.  B.  &  Co.,  boot,   shoe  and  leather  dealer,  140  lake  street, 

\*Saml.  B.  C.  of  S.  B.  C.  6-  Co.} 

*Church,  Thomas,  grocery  and  provision  store,  in  lake  street, 
*Childs,  S.  D.,  wood    and   metal  engraver,  saloon  buildings,  clark 

street, 

*Clark,  L.  W.,  exchange  broker  and  lottery  agent,  150^  lake  street, 
Cleveland   &  Co.,  house,   sign  _and  ornamental    painters,  dearborn 

street, 

Conklin,  J.,  blacksmith,  carriage  and  wagon  repairer,  clark  street, 
*Cook,  C.  W.,  Illinois  exchange,  192  lake  street, 
Cobb,    S.  B.,    saddle,   bridle,  harness    and    trunk  maker,    171   lake 

street, 

Cook,  Isaac  W.,  eagle  coffee  house,  dearborn  street, 
Clarke,  Dr.,  159  lake  street, 
Cunningham,  John,  grocery,  north  water  street,  at  the  ferry,    \Henry 

Cunningham} 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  13 

*Couch,  Ira,  hotel  keeper,  corner  of  dearborn  and  lake  streets, 
*Calhoun,  John,  collector  of  taxes,  Eddy's  store, 
Carpenter,  Philo,  druggist  and  apothecary,  south  water  street, 
Chacksfield,  George,  grocery  and  provision  store,  south  water  street. 
*Collins,  J.  H.,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  dearborn  street, 
Colvin,  Edwin  B.,  door  and  sash  maker,  dearborn  and  north  water 

streets, 
*David,  William,  boot  and  shoe  maker,  near  New  York  house,  lake 

street, 

*Doyle,  S.,  draper  and  tailor,  junction  of  kinzie  and  north  water  sts. 
Durand,  Charles,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  149  lake  street, 
*Davis,  George,  county  clerk,  159  lake  street, 
*Delicker,  George,  wholesale  grocery  and  provision  store,  163  lake 

street, 

*Dewey,  Dr.  E.,  druggist  and  apothecary,  dearborn  street, 
Dodge  &  Tucker,   ship  chandlers  and  grocers,  south  water  street, 

[John  C.  Dodge  ;  *  Henry  Tucker] 
*Davlin,    John,  Auctioneer,  corner   of  dearborn  and    south    water 

streets, 

Davis,  Miss  A.,  cloak  maker  and  tailoress,  115  lake  street, 
*Dole,  George  W.,  city  treasurer,  michigan  street, 
Dyer  &  Boone,  Drs.,  state  street,  opposite  the  new  market,    [Charles 

V.  Dyer :  Levi  D.  Boone] 

*Davis,  William  H.,  constable,  south  water  street, 
Eddy  &  Co. .hardware,  stove  and  ironmongers,  105  lake  street,     [Ira 

B.  Eddy ;  Devotion  C.  Eddy] 

Edwards,  Alfred,  grocery  and  provision  store,  north  water  street, 
Eldridge,  Dr.,  clark  street,  Harmon  &  Loomis'  building,       \_John 

W.  E] 
*Etzler,  Anton,   cap,  stock   and   umbrella   maker,  151    lake    street, 

[Anton  Getzler] 
Frink  &  Bringham,   stage  office,   123  lake  street,      [* 'John  Frink  ; 

—  Bingham] 

Follansbe,  A.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  dearborn  street, 
Funk,   J.,     fulton  and    Illinois  markets,   95   lake   and    north  water 

streets,     [Absalom  F] 
Foster  &  Robb,  grocers  and  ship  chandlers,  dearborn  street,     [Gco. 

F.  Foster;   *Geo.  A.  Robb] 


14  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

Follansbe,  C.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  dearborn  street, 

Fenherty,  John,  fancy  dry  goods  store,  south  water  street, 

Fullerton,  A.  N.,  lumber  merchant,  north  water  street, 

*Foot,  D.  P.,  blacksmith,  south  water  street.     [David  P.  Foot.] 

Goss  S.  W.  &  Co.,  dry  goods  merchants,  105  lake  street, 

Gale,   S.   F.,  bookseller   and  stationer,  corner  of    lasalle  159  lake 

street, 

Gale,  Mrs.,  New  York  milinery  store,   99  lake  street,     [Mrs.  Abra- 
ham Gale] 
Goodsell  &  Campbell,  dry  goods  and  grocery  store,  dearborn  street, 

[/..  B.  Goodsell;   —  Campbell] 

Goold,  N.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  155  lake  street. 
Gurnee,  W.  S.,  saddle  and  harness  maker,  129  and  164  lake  street, 
Gray,  C.  M.,  street  commissioner,  randolph  street, 
Gill,  Edmund,  Shakspeare  hotel,  north  water  street,  near  the  lake 

house, 

*Graves,  D.,  Rialto,  dearborn  street,     [Dexter  Graves] 
Gage,  J.  flour  store,  south  water  street ;  mill  on  the  south  branch, 
*Gavin,    Isaac  R.,   sheriff,   randolph  St.,  north-we^t  corner   public 

square, 

Goodrich,  Grant,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  105  lake  street, 
Goodenow,  A.,  dry  goods  merchant,  134  lake  street, 
Gray,  John,  Chicago  hotel,  wolf  point, 
Hupp,  S.,  tailor  and  cutter,  210  lake  street, 

*Hunter,  Edward,  deputy  sheriff,  wells  street,     [Edward  E.  H] 
Hubbard  &    Co.,  forwarding    and     commission    merchants,    north 

water  st.     [Gurdon  S.  Hubbard ;  *  Henry  G.  Hubbard] 
*Hooker,  J.  W.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  152  lake  street, 
*Hamilton,  R.  J.,  clerk  circuit  court,  clark  street, 
Hobbie  &  Clark,  dry  goods  merchants,  142  lake  street,     [* 'Albert  G. 

Hobble  j  John  Clark] 
*Hanson,  J.  L.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  146  lake  street,     [Joseph 

L.  Hanson] 

*Hodgson,  J.  H.,  tailor  and  clothier,  opposite  city  hotel,  clark  street, 
Hovey  &  Burbeck,  lake  street  market,  143  lake  street,     \*Sanwel  S. 

Hovey  j  Burbank] 

Howe,  Miss,  milliner  and  mantuamaker,  corner  of  lake  and  wells 

sts.     [Now  the  widow  of  Rufus  B,  Brown] 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  15 

*Henson,  O.  C.,  hair  cutting  and  shaving  shop,  183  lake  street, 
Heymann,  F.  T.,  watchmaker  and  jeweller,  173  lake  street, 
Hallam,  Isaac   W.,  rector  St.  James'  church,  cornor  cass  and  illi- 

nois  st. 
*Howe,  F.,  clerk,  Illinois  branch  state  bank,  lasalle  street,     {Frank 

Howe] 

*Howe,  F.  A.,  justice  of  the  peace,  97  lake  street,     [Fred.  A.  Howe.] 
Harmon,  Loomis  &  Co.,  wholesale  grocers,  clark   and  south  water 

sts.     \*Chas.  L.  Harmon;  Horatio  G.  Loomis.] 
*Holbrook,  J.,  clothing,  bed  and  mattress  store,  south  water  street, 
*Holmes,  L.  W.,  hardware  and  stove  merchant,  south  water  street, 
Hall,  Henry  P.,  barber,  north  water  street,  opposite  the  lake  house, 
*Ho\ve,  J.  L.,  city  bakehouse,  north  water  street,     [fames  L.  H] 
Hoyne,  Thomas,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  107  lake  street, 
Harmon,  Isaac  D.,  dry  goods  merchant,  clark  street,  near  the  river, 
Harmon,  William,  blacksmith,  north  water  street,     \Harman] 
Hunt,  B.  T.,  bed  and  mattress  store,  south  water  street, 
*Huntoon,  G.  M.,  constable,  near  corner  of  dearborn  and  kinzie 

streets,     \Geo.  M.  Huntoon] 

Higgins,  A.  D.,  merchant,  (Parish  &  Metcalf 's)  132  lake  street, 
Hayward  &  Co.,  burr  mill  stone  manufactory,  kinzie  street, 
Johnson,  J.,  hair  cutting  and  shaving  shop,  131  lake  street, 
*Jones,  William,  justice  of  the  peace,  dearborn  street, 
Judd,  N.  B.,  attorney,  exchange  buildings,  107  lake  street, 
King,  Tuthill,  New  York  clothing  store,  115  lake  street, 
King,  Willis,  lumber  merchant,  randolph  street, 
*Kerchival,  L.,  inspector  of  the  port  of  Chicago,     [Lewis  C.  X] 
Kinzie  &   Hunter,  forwarding,  commission   merchants,  north  water 

st.     [*  John  H.  Kinzie  and  General  Robert  Hunter '.] 
Kendall,  Vail  &  Co.,  clothing  store,  119  lake  street, 
Keogh,  P.  R.,  tailor  and  clothier,  clark  street, 
Killick,  James,  grocery  and  provision  store,  dearborn  street, 
*Kimberly,  Dr.  E.,  residence,  north  water  street,  near  the  lake  house, 

\Dr.  Edmund  S.  K] 

Kent  &  *Gilson,  livery  stable  keepers,  state  street, 
Leavenworth,  J.  H.,  overseer  public  works,  garrison, 
*Lewis,  merchant,  dearborn  street,     [Z.  F.  Lewis,  removed 

to  Wisconsin] 


l6  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

*Le\vis,  A.  B.,  sunday  school  agent,  lasalle  street, 

*Lowe,  Samuel  J.,  high  constable,  dark  street,  near  methodist  church, 

*Loyd,  A.,  carpenter  and  builder,  wells  street,     [Alex.  LoydJ] 

*Lincoln,  Solomon,  tailor  and  clothier,  156  lake  street, 

Lindebner,  J.,  tailor  and  cutter,  lake  street, 

*Leary,  A.  G.,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  dearborn  street, 

Lill,  William,  brewer,  lake  shore,  north  side  of  the  river, 

Magie  &  Co.,  dry  goods  merchants,   130  lake   street,     [ff  nines  H. 

Magie  ;  *  John  High,  jr^ 

McDonnell,  Charles,  grocery  and  provision  store,  market  street, 
M'Craken  &  Brooks,  tailors  and  clothiers,  clark  street,      [  Thomas 


M'Donnell,  Michael,  grocery,  north  water  street, 

Manierre  &  Blair,  merchant  tailors,  clark  street,   [Edward  M  airier  re  : 

Geo.  Blair  ^\ 
Morris,    B.    S.,   alderman,    attorney    and    counsellor  at  law,  saloon 

buildings, 

*Montgomery,  G.  B.  S.,  merchant,  137  lake  street, 
Mills,  M.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  154  lake  street, 
Matthews,  P.,  dry  goods  merchant,  162  lake  street, 
*Merrill,  George  W.,  dry  goods  merchant,  166  lake  street, 
Morrison,  John  H.,  grocery  store,  190  lake  street, 
Murray,  George,  tailor  and  clothier,  198  lake  street, 
Mooney,  Michael,  blacksmith,  franklin  street, 
Murray  &  Brand,  exchange  brokers,  189  lake  street,     [James  Mur- 

ray ;  *Alex.  Brand?± 

Massey,  I.  F.,  saddler  and  shoe  merchant,  175  lake  street, 
Morrison,  J.,  carpenter,  clark  street, 
*Morrison,  Orsemus,  morrison's  row,  clark  street, 
Massey,  Mrs.,  milliner  and  dress  maker,  175  lake  street, 
Malbucher,  L.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  167  lake  street,     [*  Louis 

MalzacherJ] 
M'Combe,  Mrs,  milliner  and  dress  maker,  165  lake  street,  [Miss  Mc- 


Marshall,  James  A.,  auctioneer,  commission  merchant,  south  water 

St. 

Mosely  &  M'Cord,  merchants,  south  water  street,     \*Flavel  Moseley  j 
*  Jason  McCord.~\ 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  I  7 

*  Murphy,  J.,  United  States  hotel,  west  water  street,  [John  Murphy.'} 
Morrison,  John  C.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  south  water  street, 
Mitchell,  John  B.,  boot  and  shoemaker,  south  water  street, 
Miltimore,  Ira,  steam  sash  factory,  south  branch  of  Chicago  river, 
*Moore,  Henry,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  clark  street, 
Marsh  &   Dole,  butchers,  dearborn  street,     (Sylrester  Marsh  ;  *G. 

IT.  Dole:} 

Merrick,  Dr.,  121  lake  street ;  house  corner  state  and  randolph  streets, 
*Manierre,  George,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  105  lake  street, 
*Meeker,  George  W.,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  150  lake  street, 
Mylne  &  Morrison,  lumber  merchants,  south  water  street,     \Robert 

Milne  ;  Alex.  Morrison.] 
*Newberry  &  Dole,  forwarding,  commission   merchants,  north  water 

st.     ^Oliver  Newberry  of  Detroit;  *Geo.  W.  Dole.} 
Norton  &  Co.,  H.,   grocers  and  provision  merchants,  south   water 

street,     [Horace  Norton;  Joel  C.   Walter ^\ 
Nickalls,  Pateson,  livery  stable  keeper,  kinzie  street, 
Nicholson  &  Co.,  merchants,  north  water  street, 
Osbourn  &  Strail,  hardware,  stove,  iron  merchants,   124  lake  street, 

[Should  be  Osborn  &  S.] 

Otis  S.  T.  &  Co.,  stove,  iron,  hardware  merchants,  dearborn  street, 
Osterhoudt,  1,.  M.,  New  York  house,  180  lake  street, 
Osbourn,  William,  boot,  shoe  and  leather  merchant,  141  lake  street, 
[Should  be  Osborn] 

*Oliver,  John  A.,  house,  sign  and  ornamental  painter,  kinzie  street, 

Ogden,  William  B.  Esq.  kinzie  street, 

Ogden,  M.  D.,  of  Arnold  &  Ogden,  attorneys,  dearborn  street, 

O'Brien,  George,  grocery  and  provision  store,  north  water  street, 

O'Connor,  Martin,  blacksmith,  randolph  street, 

*Post,  Dr.,  residence  lake  street,  office  dearborn  street, 

Peck,  E.  treasurer  canal  fund,  clark  street, 

Page,  Peter,  mason,  clark  street,  brick  building  above  randolph  street 

Paine  &  Norton,    dry    goods   merchants,   117    lake    street       \*Seth 

Paine  and  *  Theron  Norlon.\ 
Parsons    &     Holden,   grocery   and    provision    store,   market    street 

[* 'Edward  Parsons  ;  Chas.   W.  H.] 
Parish  &:  Metcalf,  general  merchants,  132  lake  street 


l8  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

Peacock  &  Co.,   J.,  gunsmiths,   153   lake  street     [Joseph   Peacock  : 

David  C.  Thatcher] 
*  Pearson,  Hiram,  grocer  and  dry  goods  merchant,  south  water  street 

\Hiram  Pearsons] 

Periolat,  F.  A.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  126  lake  street 
Pfund,  J.,  bread  and  biscuit  maker,  clark  street 

*Philips,  Clifford  S.,  wholesale  dry  goods  merchant,  125  lake  street 
Phillips,  John  F.,  tailor  and  clothier,  city  hotel  buildings,  clark  street 
Pond,  William,  watch  and  clock  maker,  183  lake  street 
Prescott,  E.  S.,  receiver  land  office,  United  States,  175  lake  street 
*Price,  J.,  fire  warden,  south  water  street     [Jeremiah  Price.] 
Price,  Robert,  tailor  and  clothier,  153  lake  street 
Proctor,  Dr.,  dearborn  street,  below  lake  street 
Randolph,  G.  F.,  wholesale  dry  goods  merchant,  109  lake  street 
Rankin,  William  &  John,  brass  founders,  clark  street  and  Illinois 

street 

Raymond,  B.   W.,  general  dry  goods  merchant,  122  lake  street 
*Reed,  C.  M.,  forwarding  and  commission  merchant,  south  water  st. 
Reed,  Mrs.,  cloak  and  dressmaker,  115  lake  street 
Ross,  Hugh,  bookbinder  and  paper  ruler,  clark  street,  below  l?ke  st. 
*Rossetter,  Asher,  mansion  house,  86  lake  street 
Rucker,    Henry  L.,  alderman  and  justice   of   the   peace,   dearborn 

street 
Rudd,  Edward   H.,   job  and  book  printer,  saloon  buildings,  clark 

street 

*Russell,  James,  city  hotel,  Clark  street     [Jacob  Russell '] 
*Saltonstall,  W.  W.,  Hubbard  &  Co.'s  warehouse,  north  water  street 
Sauter,  C.  &  J.,  boot  and  shoemakers,  212  lake  street     [Chas.  ami 

*  Jacob  S.] 

Sherman,  A.  S.,  mason,  west  of  the  south  branch  of  Chicago  river 
Sherman,  E.  L.,  teller,  Illinois  branch  state  bank,  lasalle  street 
Sherman  &  Pitkin,  general  dry    goods  merchants,   150    lake  street 

\Oren  Sherman  ;  Nathaniel  Pitkin] 

*Sherwood,  S.  J.,  watchmaker  and  jeweller,  144  lake  street 
Shields,  Joseph,  watch  and  clock  repairer,  dearborn  street 
Shollar,  A.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  200  lake  street. 
Smith,  Bradner,  carpenter,  wolcott  street 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  19 

*Smith,  Lisle,  city  attorney,  107  lake  street     [S.  Lisle  Smith.} 
Smith  &  Co.,  J.  A.,  hat  and  cap  manufacturers,  127  lake  street 
Smith  &  Co.,  George,  exchange  brokers,  187  lake  street 
Stanton  &  Black,  auctioneers,  commission  merchants,  85  lake  street 

[*CAas.  T.  Stanton  ; Black} 

Stearns  &  Hallam,  fancy  dry  goods  merchants,  148  lake  street 
Stoce  &  White,  blacksmiths,  corner  randolphand  wells  streets     [Cle- 
mens Stose  ;  White.} 

Stocking,  Rev.    Mr.,    pastor    metho.  church,  opposite   pub.  square, 

dark  st. 

Stone,  H.  O..  grocer  and  provision  merchant,  south  water  street 
Strode,  J.  M.,  register  land  office,  saloon  buildings,  clark  street 
Stuart,  W.,  publisher  and  editor  of  Chicago  American,  south  water 

st. 

Sweet,  C.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  north  water  street 
Storms,  A.,  carpenter  and  builder,  state  street 
Sawyer,  S.,  druggist  and  apothecary,  dearborn  street 
Shelley,  G.  E.,  lake  house,  north  water  street 
Steele,  J.   IV.,  city  refectory,  dearborn  street 
*Seymour,  Jesse,  sauganash  hotel,  market  street 
Sweetser,   J.    Oldham,   surgeon    dentist,    rush   street    opposite    lake 

house 

*Stuart,  Dr.  J.  Jay,  rush  street  opposite  the  lake  house 
Scammon,  J.  Young,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  107  lake  street, 
*Spring,  Giles,  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law,  107  lake  street 
Snow,  G.    W.  &  Co.,  lumber  merchants,  south  water  street     \*Geo. 

H'.  Snow,  of  G.   W.  SS&  Co.} 

*Sherman,  F.  C.,  contractor  and  builder,  clark  street 
Tuttle,  Nelson,  stage  agent,  180  lake  street 
Taylor,  Daniel,  boot  and  shoe  maker,  120  lake  street 
^Thompson,  O.  H.,   grocer  and   dry   goods  merchant,   south   water 

street 

*Tucker,  William,  cooper,  south  water  street     [Thomas  E.   T.] 
Tripp, ,  carpenter,  clark  street,  next  the  methodist  church     [Rob- 
inson Tripp.\ 

Taylor,  Francis  H.,  tailor,  wolf  point 

Updike  &  M,Clure,  carpenters  and  builders,  dearborn  street.   \* Peter 
L.  Updyke  ;  Andrew  McClure} 


20  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

Van  Osdell,  John,  contractor  and  builder,  corn,  wolcott  and  kinzie 

sts.     [John  M.   Van  Osde/.~] 

Vaughan,  William,  clothes  broker,  159  lake  street 
Villiard,  L.  N.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  187  lake  street 
Wood  worth,   R.   &   J.,    wholesale   dry    goods    merchants,    103    lake 

street     \*  Robert  and  *  James  H.   W.} 

Wheeler,  William,  tin,  sheet-iron  and  copper  smith,  145   lake  street 
*Wright,  John  S.,  forwarding,  commission  merchant,  north  water  st. 
*Weir,  John  B.,  cabinet  and  chair  maker,  188  lake  street 
*White,  George,  city  crier,  market  street,  or  at  Stanton  &  Black's 
Wilman,    Andrew,    blacksmith,     randolph    street,    opposite    public 

square 

*Whitlock,  Thomas,  boot  and  shoe  maker,  102  lake  street 
*Whiting,    W.    L.,   produce   and  commission   merchant,   Hubbard's 

store 

Wentworth,  J.,  editor  and  publisher  of  Chicago  Democrat,  107  lake  st. 
*\Volcott,  Henry,  private  boarding  house,  corner  kinzie  and  wolcott 

sts. 

Wadsworth,  Julius,  agent  for  the  Hartford  insurance  Co.,  105  lake  st. 
Warner,  Seth,  merchant,  south  water  street     \_Seth  P.   W.~\ 
*White,  Alexander,  house,  sign  and  ornamental  painter,  north  water 

st. 

Wicker,  J.  H.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  87  lake  street 
*Walton,  N.  C.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  north  water  street 
Walker  &  Co.,  grocer  and  provision  merchant,  south  water  street 

\*Chas.  Walker ;  Almond  Walker.} 

Williams,  Eli  B.,  recorder,  clark  street ;  store  south  water  street 
Wait,  H.  M.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  lake  street 
Wandell,  John,  great  western,  152^  lake  street 
Wheeler,  W.  F.,  dry  goods  merchant,  107  lake  street 
Williams,  J.,  hair  cutting  and  shaving  shop,  90  lake  street 
Wells,  H.  G.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  101  lake  street 
Yates,  H.  H.,  grocery  and  provision  store,  clark  street 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  21 


CHURCHES  OF  THE  CITY. 

Baptist  Church,   La  Salle,  above   randolph    street ;    I.    T.    Hinton, 

elder, 

Episcopal  Church,  Cass  street,  opposite  Kinzie  Square, 
Presbyterian  Church,  west  side  of  Clark  street,  above  the  pub.  square, 
Methodist  Church,  east  side  of  Clark  street,  above  randolph, 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  Corner  of  Lake  and  State  street, 
First  Unitarian  Society,  Rev.  Mr.  Harrington,  Saloon  Buildings. 

A  number  of  omissions  will  probably  be  found  in  the  fore- 
going directory,  in  consequence  of  the  difficulty  in  procuring  a  suit- 
able person  to  collect  names  and  residences  for  it ;  but  it  is  the  in- 
tention of  the  publisher,  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  permit,  to 
issue  another  edition,  enlarged  and  otherwise  improved. 


EARLIEST  RESIDENT  IN    CHICAGO    NOW 
LIVING. 


Very  few  of  the  four  hundred  thousand  of  the  reasonably  .adult 
individuals  now  residing  in  Chicago  are  probably  aware  that  the 
lady  of  whom  we  are  going  to  speak  is  now  a  visitor  in  our  city. 


After  so  long  a  period,  since  early  in  the  century,  before  those  of 
our  citizens  who  have  only  reached  their  "  three  score  years  and 
ten  "  were  born,  when  she  came  a  trustful  wife  of  sixteen,  and 
stepped  ashore  upon  the  river  bank,  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable 
that  she  is,  to-day,  again  passing  over  and  around  the  locality  of 
this  her  early  home.  Under  the  gentle  supervision  of  this  married 
maiden's  blue  eyes,  our  stockade  fortress,  then  so  far  within  the 
wilderness,  was  erected.  Yet,  of  all  those  who  came  in  that  sum- 


24  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

mer  of  1803,  the  sailor-men  of  that  vessel,  the  oarsmen  of  that 
boat,  the  company  of  United  States  soldiers,  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Whistler,  and  their  son  the  husband  and  his  bride  of  a  year,  all, 
we  may  safely  say,  have  bid  adieu  to  earth,  excepting  this  lone 
representative.  These  are  some  of  the  circumstances  which  con- 
tribute to  make  this  lady  a  personage  of  unusual  interest  to  the 
dwellers  here.  A  few  particulars  in  the  life  of  Mrs.  Whistler, 
together  with  some  of  the  facts  attending  the  coming  of  those  who 
arrived  to  assist  in  building  Fort  Dearborn,  will  certainly  be  ac- 
ceptable. 

It  was  a  coveted  pilgrimage  which  we  sought,  as  any  one 
might  believe,  for  it  was  during  the  tremendous  rain-storm  of  the 
evening  of  2pth  October,  1875,  that  we  sallied  out  to  call  at  Mrs. 
Col.  R.  A.  Kinzie's,  for  an  introduction  to  that  lady's  mother,  Mrs. 
Whistler.  When  we  entered  the  parlor,  the  venerable  woman  was 
engaged  at  the  centre-table  in  some  game  of  amusement  with  her 
grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  seemingly  as  much  in- 
terested as  any  of  the  juveniles.  [We  will  remark  here  that  five 
generations  in  succession  of  this  family  have  lived  in  Chicago.] 
She  claimed  to  enjoy  good  health,  and  was,  apparently,  an  unusual 
specimen  of  well-preserved  faculties,  both  intellectual  and  physical. 
She  is  of  a  tall  form,  and  her  appearance  still  indicates  the  truth  of 
common  report,  that,  in  her  earlier  years,  she  was  a  person  of  sur- 
passing elegance.  A  marked  trait  of  hers  has  been  a  spirit  of 
unyielding  energy  and  determination,  and  which  length  of  years 
has  not  yet  subdued.  Her  tenacious  memory  ministers  to  a  voluble 
tongue,  and  we  may  say  briefly,  she  is  an  agreeable,  intelligent 
and  sprightly  lady,  numbering  only  a  little  over  88  years.  "  To- 
day," said  she,  "  I  received  my  first  pension  on  account  of  my 
husband's  services."  Mrs.  Whistler  resides  in  Newport,  Kentucky. 
She  has  one  son  and  several  grandsons  in  the  army.  Born  in 
Salem,  Mass.,  July  3,  1787,  her  maiden  name  was  Julia  Ferson,  and 
her  parents  were  John  and  Mary  (La  Dake)  Ferson.  In  childhood 
she  removed  with  her  parents  to  Detroit,  where  she  received 
most  of  her  education.  In  the  month  of  May,  1802,  she  wns 
married  to  William  Whistler,  (born  in  Hagerstown,  Md.,  about 
1784,)  a  Second  Lieut,  in  the  company  of  his  father,  Captain 
John  Whistler,  U.  S.  A.,  then  stationed  at  Detroit.  In  the 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  25 

summer  of  the  ensuing  year,  Captain  Whistler's  company  was 
ordered  to  Chicago,  to  occupy  the  post  and  build  the  Fort.  Lieut. 
James  S.  Swearingen  (late  Col.  Swearingen,  of  Chillicothe,  O.) 
conducted  the  company  from  Detroit  overland.  The  U.  S. 
schooner  "  Tracy,"  Dorr,  master,  was  dispatched  at  the  same  time, 
for  same  destination,  by  the  lakes,  with  supplies,  and  having  also 
on  board  Captain  John  Whistler,  Mrs.  Whistler,  their  son  George 
W.,  then  three  years  old,  (afterwards  the  distinguished  engineer 
in  the  employ  of  the  Russian  government,)  Lieut.  Wm.  Whistler, 
and  the  young  wife  of  the  last  named  gentleman.  The  schooner 
stopped  briefly  on  her  route  at  St.  Joseph's  river,  where  the 
Whistlers  left  the  vessel  and  took  a  row-boat  to  Chicago.  The 
schooner  on  arriving  at  Chicago,  anchored  half  a  mile  from  the 
shore,  discharging  her  freight  by  boats.  Some  2,000  Indians 
visited  the  locality  while  the  vessel  was  here,  being  attracted  by  so 
unusual  an  occurrence,  as  the  appearance  in  these  waters  of  "  a  big 
canoe  with  wings."  Lieut.  Swearingen  returned  with  the  "  Tracy  " 
to  Detroit. 

There  were  then  here,  says  Mrs.  W.,  but  four  rude  huts  or  traders' 
cabins,  occupied  by  white  men,  Canadian  French,  with  Indian 
wives;  of  these  were  Le  Mai,  Ouilmette,  and  Pettell.  No  fort 
existed  here  at  that  time,  though  it  is  understood  (see  Treaty  of 
Greenville)  that  there  had  been  one  at  a  former  day,  built  by  the 
French,  doubtless,  as  it  was  upon  one  of  the  main  routes  from  New 
France  to  Louisiana,  of  which  extensive  region  that  government 
long  held  possession  by  a  series  of  military  posts.  [It  is  said  that 
Durantaye,  a  French  official,  built  some  sort  of  a  fortification  here 
as  early  as  1685.] 

Capt.  Whistler  upon  his  arrival,  at  once  set  about  erecting  a 
stockade  and  shelter  for  their  protection,  followed  by  getting  out 
the  sticks  for  the  heavier  work.  It  is  worth  mentioning  here,  that 
there  was  not  at  that  time,  within  hundreds  of  miles,  a  team  of 
horses  or  oxen,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  soldiers  had  to  don  the 
harness,  and  with  the  aid  of  ropes  drag  home  the  needed  timbers. 
The  birth  of  two  children  within  the  Fort,  we  have  referred  to 
elsewhere.  Lt.  Whistler  after  a  five  years  sojourn  here,  was  trans- 
ferred to  Fort  Wayne,  having  previously  been  made  a  First  Lieu- 
tenant. He  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Maguago,  Mich., 


26 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 


9th  Aug.  1812;  was  in  Detroit  at  time  of  Hull's  surrender,  and 
with  Mrs.  Whistler,  was  taken  prisoner  to  Montreal;  was  promoted 
to  a  Captain  December  1812;  to  Major  in  1826,  and  a  Lieut.  Col. 
in  1845.  At  his  death  he  had  rendered  sixty-two  years  continuous 
service  in  the  army;  yet  Mrs.  W.  says  she  remembers  but  six  short 
furloughs  which  he  had,  during  the  whole  term.  He  was  stationed 
at  various  posts,  beside  those  of  Green  Bay,  Niagara  and  Sackett's 
Harbor;  at  the  last  named  post,  Gen.  Grant  (then  a  subaltern 
officer)  belonged  to  the  command  of  Col.  W.  In  June  1832,  Col. 
Whistler  arrived  again  at  Fort  Dearborn,  not  the  work  which  he 
had  assisted  to  build  twenty-eight  years  before,  for  that  was  burned 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  27 

in  1812,  but  the  later  one,  erected  in  1816-17.  He  then  remained 
here  but  a  brief  period. 

Col.  Wm.  Whistler's  height  at  maturity  was  six  feet  two  inches, 
and  his  weight  at  one  time  was  260  Ibs.  He  died  in  Newport,  Ky., 
Dec.  4,  1863. 

Capt.  John  Whistler,  the  builder  and  commandant  of  the  first 
Fort  Dearborn,  (afterwards  Major  W.)  was  an  officer  in  the  army 
of  the  Revolution.  We  regret  that  we  have  so  few  facts  concern- 
ing his  history,  nor  have  we  a  portrait  or  signature  of  the  patriot. 
It  is  believed  that  when  ordered  to  Chicago,  he  belonged  to  a  regi- 
ment of  artillery.  He  continued  in  command  at  Fort  Dearborn, 
until  the  forepart  of  i8n,we  think,  for  we  notice  that  his  suc- 
cessor Captain  Heald,  gave  to  the  Pottowattamie  Little  Chief  a 
pass  to  St.  Louis,  dated  here  July  II,  1811.  Mrs.  Whistler  expressed 
to  us  her  opinion,  that  had  Captain  W.  been  continued  in  the  com- 
mand, the  Chicago  massacre  would  not  have  happened.  Major 
John  Whistler  died  at  Bellefontaine,  Mo.,  in  1827. 

Col.  James  Swearingen  was  a  second  Lieutenant  in  1803,  when 


J,     J^ 


he  conducted  the  Company  of  Capt.  Whistler  from  Detroit  across 
Michigan  to  Chicago.  The  regiment  of  artillery,  with  which  he 
was  connected,  is  understood  to  have  been  the  only  corps  of  that 
branch  of  defence.  Lieut.  Swearingen  continued  in  the  service 
until  about  1816  attaining  the  rank  of  Colonel,  when  he  resigned 
his  commission,  and  made  his  residence  in  Chillicothe,  O.,  where  he 

died  on  his  82d  birthday  in  February  1864. 

— »  »  • — 
LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE. 


Taken  in  1858,  at  the  dome  of  the  Court  House  in  Chicago.  By 
Lt.  Col.  J.  D.  Graham,  U.  S.  A. 

Latitude. — 41  °   53  min.,  06.2  sec.,  north. 

Longitude. — West  of  meridian  of  Greenwich ;  87  °  38  min., 
01.2  sec.,  or  5  hours  50  min.,  32.08  sec. 


28  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

THE  AMERICAN  FUR   COMPANY  AND  CHICAGO. 


During  the  existence  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  Chicago 
was  at  times  the  home  or  headquarters  of  various  of  its  agents; 
Hubbard,lBeaubien,  Crafts  and  the  Kinzies  at  least,  sojourned  here 
more  or  less.  By  way  of  Chicago,  was  the  thoroughfare  to  the 
Illinois,  St.  Louis  and  below.  While  Mackinaw  had  been  for  more 
than  a  century  the  store-house  and  great  trading-post  of  the  fur 
dealers,  Chicago  was  the  port  and  point  of  a  very  limited  district 
of  distribution.  But  civilization  has  changed  the  character  o 
trade,  and  the  settlement  and  cultivation  of  the  country  by  the 
white  race,  has  transferred  from  •Michilimackinac  to  Chicago,  the 
commercial  depot  and  trade  center,  of  not  only  a  great  share  of  the 
region  comprising  the  old  Northwestern  Territory,  but  of  a  far 
greater  area  of  empire. 

To  notice  slightly  the  origin  of  the  American  Fur  Company, 
we  will  say  that  John  Jacob  Astor,  a  German  by  birth,  who  arrived 
in  New  York  in  the  year  1784,  commenced  work  for  a  bakery 
owned  by  a  German  acquaintance,  and  peddled  cakes  and  dough- 
nuts about  the  city.  [See  ScoviWs  "  Old  Merchants  of  Netv 
York"  contradicting  other  stories  of  Astor's  early  life  in  America.] 
He  was  afterwards  assisted  to  open  a  toy  shop,  and  this  was  fol- 
lowed by  trafficking  for  small  parcels  of  furs  in  the  country  towns, 
and  which  led  to  his  future  operations  in  that  line. 

Mr.  Astor's  great  and  continued  success  in  that  branch  of  trade, 
induced  him  in  1809  to  obtain  from  the  New  York  Legislature,  a 
charter  incorporating  "  The  American  Fur  Company,"  with  a 
capital  of  a  million  dollars.  It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Astor  com- 
prised the  Company,  though  other  names  were  used  in  its  organi- 
zation. In  1811,  Mr.  Astor,  in  connection  with  certain  partners  of 
the  old  Northwest  Fur  Company  (whose  beginning  was  in  1783, 
and  permanently  organized  in  1787,)  bought  out  the  association  of 
British  merchants,  known  as  the  Mackinaw  Company,  then  a 
strong  competitor  in  the  fur  trade.  This  Mackinaw  Company, 
with  the  American  Fur  Company,  was  merged  into  a  new  associa- 
tion, called  the  Southwest  Fur  Company.  But  in  1815,  Mr.  Astor 
bought  out  the  South-west  Company,  and  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany came  again  to  the  front.  In  the  winter  of  1815-16,  Congress, 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  29 

through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Astor  it  is  understood,  passed  an  act 
excluding  foreigners  from  participating  in  the  Indian  trade.  In 
1817-18,  the  American  Fur  Company  brought  a  large  number  of 
clerks  from  Montreal  and  the  United  States,  to  Mackinaw,  some  of 
whom  made  good  Indian  traders,  while  many  others  failed  upon 
trial  and  were  discharged.  Among  those  who  proved  their  capa- 
bility, was  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  Esq.,  then  a  youth  of  sixteen,  the 
earliest  resident  of  Chicago  now  living  here.  Quite  appropriate 
will  it  be  to  present  a  likeness  of  Mr  H.  in  connection  with  this 


article.  He  was  born  in  Windsor,  Vt.,  in  1802,  and  his  parents 
were  Elizur  and  Abigail  (Sage)  Hubbard.  His  paternal  emigrant 
ancestor  was  George  Hubbard,  who  was  at  Wethersfield,  Ct.,  in 
1636.  Mr.  Hubbard  is  also  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  clergyman 
Governor,  Gurdon  Saltonstall,  (named  for  Brampton  Gurdon,  the 


30  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

patriot  M.  P.  whose  daughter  was  the  grandmother  of  the  Gov- 
ernor,) who  was  the  great  grandson  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  the 
firm  and  efficient  friend  of  early  New  England. 

[The  citizens  of  Chicago  must  be  pleased  to  learn,  that  Mr 
Hubbard  has  in  hand,  getting  ready  for  the  press,  a  volume  ot 
autobiography,  and  reminiscences  of  men,  things  and  happenings, 
during  his  long  sojourn  in  the  West.]  We  need,  therefore,  merely 
add  here  that  Mr.  Hubbard  left  Montreal,  where  his  parents  then 
lived,  May  13, 1818,  reaching  Mackinaw  July  4th,  and  first  arrived 
at  Chicago  oh  the  last  day  of  October  or  first  day  of  November  of 
that  year.  In  1828  he  purchased  of  the  Fur  Company,  their  entire 
interest  in  the  trade  of  Illinois. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Hubbard  for  the  following,  relating  to 
the  American  Fur  Company,  which  he  has  kindly  communicated. 

"  Having  entire  charge  of  the  management  of  the  company  in  the  West, 
were  Ramsey  Crooks  and  Robert  Stuart.  To  William  Matthews  was  intrusted 
the  engaging  of  voyageurs  and  clerks  in  Canada,  with  his  headquarters  in 
Montreal.  The  voyageurs  he  took  from  the  habitans  (farmers) ;  young,  active, 
athletic  men  were  sought  for,  indeed,  none  but  such  were  engaged,  and  they 
passed  under  inspection  of  a  surgeon.  Mr.  M.  also  purchased  at  Montreal  such 
goods  as  were  suited  for  the  trade,  to  load  his  boats.  These  boats  were  the 
Canadian  batteaux,  principally  used  in  those  days  in  transferring  goods  to  upper 
St.  Lawrence  river  and  its  tributaries,  manned  by  four  oarsmen  and  a  steers- 
man, capacity  about  six  tons.  The  voyageurs  and  clerks  were  under  inden- 
tures for  a  term  of  five  years.  Wages  of  voyageurs,  $100,  clerks  from  $120  to 
$500  per  annum.  These  were  all  novices  in  the  business;  the  plan  of  the 
company  was  to  arrange  and  secure  the  services  of  old  traders  and  their  voy- 
ageurs, who.  at  the  (new)  organization  of  the  company  were  in  the  Indian 
country,  depending  on  their  influence  and  knowledge  of  the  trade  with  the 
Indians ;  and  as  fast  as  possible  secure  the  vast  trade  in  the  West  and  North- 
west, within  the  district  of  the  United  States,  interspersing  the  novices  brought 
from  Canada  so  as  to  consolidate,  extend  and  monopolize,  as  far  as  possible, 
over  the  country,  the  Indian  trade.  The  first  two  years  they  had  succeeded  in 
bringing  into  their  employ  seven-eighths  of  the  old  Indian  traders  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers,  Lakes  Michigan  and  Superior 
and  their  tributaries  as  far  north  as  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States 
extended.  The  other  eighth  thought  that  their  interest  was  to  remain  inde- 
pendent; towards  such,  the  company  selected  their  best  traders,  and  located 
them  in  opposition,  with  instructions  so  to  manage  by  underselling  to  bring 
them  to  terms. 

At  Mackinaw  the  trader's  brigades  were  organized,  the  company  selecting 
the  most  capable  trader  to  be  the  manager  of  his  particular  brigade,  which 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  3! 

consisted  of  from  five  to  twenty  batteaux,  laden  with  goods.  This  chief  or 
manager,  when  reaching  the  country  allotted  to  him,  made  detachments,  locat- 
ing trading  houses  with  districts  clearly  defined,  for  the  operations  of  that  par- 
ticular post,  and  so  on,  until  his  ground  was  fully  occupied  by  traders  under 
him,  over  whom  he  had  absolute  authority. 

Mr.  John  Crafts  was  a  trader  sent  to  Chicago  by  a  Mr.  Conant  of  Detroit; 
was  here  at  the  (new)  organization  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  His  trad- 
ing house  was  located  about  half  a  mile  below  Bridgeport,  ("  Hardscrabble," 
the  same  premises,  where  in  April  1812,  two  murders  were  committed  by  the 
Indians)  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  (south  branch)  and  had,  up  to  1819,  full 
control  of  this  section,  without  opposition  from  the  American  Fur  Company, 
sending  outfits  to  Rock  River  and  other  points  within  a  range  say  of  a  hundred 
miles  of  Chicago.  In  fall  of  1819,  the  company  transferred  Jean  Baptiste 
Beaubien  from  Milwaukee  to  this  point,  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  Mr.  Crafts. 
He  erected  his  trading  houses  at  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river,  then  about  the 
foot  of  Harrison  street.  In  1822,  Crafts  succumbed,  and  engaged  himself  to 
the  American  Fur  Company,  taking  a  charge.  Mr.  Beaubien  was  under  him. 
Subsequently,  the  company  bought  from  the  U.  S.  the  Factory  House,  located 
just  south  of  Fort  Dearborn,  to  which  Beaubien  removed  with  his  family. 
Crafts  died  here  of  bilious  fever  in  December,  of  I  think  the  year  1823.  Up  to 
this  date,  Mr.  John  Kinzie  was  not  in  any  business  connected  with  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company,  but  confined  himself  to  his  trade,  silversmith,  making 
Indian  trinkets.  At  the  death  of  Mr.  Crafts,  he  acted  as  agent  for  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company.  He  had  no  goods,  as  Mr.  Beaubien  bought  out  the  Com- 
pany's right  of  trade  with  the  Indians.  By  this  time  there  was  a  very  limited 
trade  here,  in  fact,  this  place  never  had  been  pre-eminent  as  a  trading  post, 
as  this  was  not  the  Indian  hunting  ground." 

We  will  here  allude  to  Mr.  Astor's  attempt  to  establish  an 
American  emporium  for  the  fur  trade  at  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 
bia river,  which  enterprise  failed,  through  the  capture  of  Astoria 
by  the  British  in  1814,  and  the  neglect  of  our  Government  to  give 
him  protection.  The  withdrawal  of  Mr  Astor  from  the  Pacific 
coast,  left  the  Northwest  Fur  Company  to  consider  themselves  the 
lords  of  the  country.  They  did  not  long  enjoy  the  field  unmo- 
lested, however.  "A  fierce  competition  ensued  between  them  and 
their  old  rivals,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  was  carried  on 
at  great  cost  and  sacrifice,  and  occasionally,  with  the  loss  of  life. 
It  ended  in  the  ruin  of  most  of  the  partners  of  the  Northwest 
Company,  and  merging  of  the  relics  of  that  establishment,  in  1821, 
in  the  rival  association." 

Ramsey  Crooks  was  a  foremost  man  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Astor  in  the  fur 
trade,  not  only  in  the  east,  but  upon  the  western  coast,  and  has  been  called  the 
adventurous  Rocky  Mountain  trader.  Intimately  connected,  as  Mr.  Crooks 


32  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

was,  with  the  American  Fur  Company,  a  slight  notice  of  him  will  not  be  out 
of  place.  Mr.  Crooks  was  a  native  of  Greenock,  Scotland,  and  was  employed 
as  a  trader,  in  Wisconsin,  as  early  as  1806.  He  entered  the  service  of  Mr. 
Astor  in  1809.  In  1813,  he  returned  from  his  three  years'  journey  to  the  west- 
ern coast,  and  in  1817  he  joined  Mr.  Astor  as  a  partner,  and,  for  four  or  five 
years  ensuing,  he  was  the  company's  Mackinaw  agent,  though  residing  mostly 
in  New  York.  Mr.  Crooks  continued  a  partner  until  1830,  when  this  connec- 
tion was  dissolved  and  he  resumed  his  place  with  Mr.  Astor  in  his  former 
capacity.  In  1834,  Mr.  Astor,  being  advanced  in  years,  sold  out  the  stock  of 
the  company,  and  transferred  the  charter  to  Ramsey  Crooks  and  his  associates, 
whereupon  Mr.  C.  was  elected  president  of  the  company.  Reverses,  however, 
compelled  an  assignment  in  1842,  and  with  it  the  death  of  the  American  Fur 
Company.  In  1845,  Mr.  Crooks  opened  a  commission  house,  for  the  sale  of 
furs  and  skins,  in  New  York  city.  This  business,  which  was  successful,  Mr. 
C.  continued  until  his  death.  Mr.  Crooks  died  in  New  York,  June  6,  1859,  in 
his  73d  year. 

[Through  the  politeness  of  a  lady  of  Chicago,  we  have  been 
favored  with  the  loan  of  a  volume,  formerly  one  of  the  books 
of  the  American  Fur  Company,  containing  various  items  of  inter- 
est. The  lady  referred  to  was  formerly  of  Mackinaw,  and  had  the 
good  taste,  when  noticing,  some  years  since,  the  waste  of  numerous 
books  and  papers  of  the  old  Fur  Company,  to  secure  quite  a  num- 
ber from  such  a  fate.  All  those  books  and  papers,  excepting  the 
one  now  lying  before  us,  she  afterwards  presented  to  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society,  and  they  shared  the  flames  which  consumed  its 
valuable  collection. 

Though  only  in  part  referring  to  our  immediate  locality,  we 
think  it  will  be  excusable  to  place  upon  record  the  following  ex- 
tracts and  items  (mostly  of  persons  and  their  destination)  from  the 
volume  above  mentioned.  The  book  comprises  outward  invoices 
of  the  year  1821  and  '2,  from  the  Agency  at  Mackinaw,  or 
"  Michilimackinac  "  as  it  was  written.  Pains  have  been  taken  to 
carefully  follow  the  orthography,  as  given,  of  the  names  of  persons 
and  places.] 

(For  account  and  risk  of  the  American  Fur  Co.,  Merchandise  delivered^) 

Josette  Gauthier,  for  the  Trade  of  Lake  Superior.  Michilimackinac  23 
July  1821. 

Madeline  Laframboise,  for  the  Trade  of  Grand  River  and   its  dependencies. 

3  Sept.,  1821. 

[Madam  Laframboise  was  of  the  Indian  race,  an  Ottawa  woman,  whose 
husband  had  taught  her  to  read  and  write.  She  was  of  a  tall  and  commanding 
figure,  and  Mr.  Hubbard  informs  us  that  "  she  was  a  woman  of  extraordinary 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  33 

ability,  spoke  French  remarkably  well,  and,  in  deportment  and  conversation,  a 
lady  highly  esteemed;  her  husband  was  killed  on  the  Upper  Mississippi." 
After  his  death,  "  she  took  control  of  the  business,  and  continued  as  a  trader  in 
the  Company's  employ,"  was  accustomed  to  visit  the  various  trading  posts,  and 
looked  closely  after  the  doings  of  the  clerks  and  employees.  The  daughter  of 
Madam  Laframboise  became  the  wife  of  Lieut.  John  S.  Pierce,  of  the  army, 
brother  of  the  late  President  Pierce.] 

(On  their  own  account  and  risk.) 

Therese  Schindler,  for  her  Trade  at  and  about  Michilimackinac.  23  August, 
1821. 

Eliza  and  James  Mitchell  for  their  Trade.     August  12,  1822. 
(For  account  and  risk  of  the  American  Fur  Co.) 

John  F.  Hogle,  for  the  Trade  of  Lac  du  Flambeau  and  its  dependencies.  24 
July,  1821. 

Jean  Bt.  Corbin  for  the  trade  of  Lac  Courtoreille  and  its  dependencies.  31 
July,  1821. 

Eustache  Roussain,  for  Trade  of  Folleavoine  and  its  dep.     31  July,  1821. 

Goodrich  Warner,  for  the  Trade  of  Ance  Quirvinan  and  its  dep.  2  August, 
1821. 

Joseph  Rolette,  for  the  Trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  its  dep.  15 
August,  1821. 

Amount  of  Invoice,  $25,354.84. 

[Joseph  Rolette  was  at  Prairie  du  Chien  as  early  as  1804.  He  was  a  decided 
character  in  his  day,  and  numerous  anecdotes  are  told  of  him  which  establish 
that  fact.  He  held  sway  over  the  French  inhabitants  and  voyageurs,  and  was 
exacting  in  his  requirements;  his  will  "was  arbitrary,  his  word  law,  and  the 
people  feared  him,  it  is  said,  worse  than  they  did  death.  He  was  educated  for 
the  Catholic  church,  officiated  at  one  time  as  chief  justice,  and,  it  is  told  to 
have  been  rich  to  watch  the  proceedings  and  decisions  of  that  court.  In  the 
capture  of  Mackinaw  from  the  Americans,  in  1812,  Rolette  took  an  active 
part  on  the  side  of  the  enemv,  having  command  of  the  Canadians  on  that 
occasion.  He  also  raised  a  company  to  take  part  in  the  expedition  under  Col. 
McKay,  against  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  bore  the  dispatches  to  Mackinaw  after 
its  surrender.  Mr.  Rolette  died  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1841.] 

William  H.  Wallace  for  trade  of  Lower  Wabash  and  its  dep.   22  August,  1821. 

[This  gentleman  was  a  Scotchman,  and  is  understood  to  have  died  in 
Chicago  about  1826.  He  was  connected  with  the  Fur  Company  upon  the 
Pacific  coast  some  years  before.  A  manuscript  narrative  of  his  journey,  in 
1810,  to  the  Northwest  coast,  from  Montreal,  via  New  York,  Sandwich 
Islands,  etc.,  left  by  him,  was  deposited  with  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.] 

John  Henry  Davis,  for  the  trade  of  the  Upper  Wabash  and  its  dep.  24 
August  1821. 


34  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

Jeremie  Clairemont,  for  the  trade  of  Iroquois  river  and  its  dep.  22  August, 
1821. 

Truman  A.  Warren,  for  the  trade  of  Lac  du  Flambeau  and  its  dep.  July  15, 
1822. 

John  Holliday,  for  the  trade  of  Ance  Quirvinan,  and  its  dep.     26  July  1822. 

Joseph  Bertrand  and  Pierre  Navarre,  for  trade  of  St.  Joseph  and  Kinkiki  and 
its  dep.  Aug.  7,  1822. 

[The  present  village  of  Bertrand,  Mich.,  formerly  called  Pare  aux  Vaches,  it 
is  believed,  was  named  for  Joseph  Bertrand.] 

William  Morrison,  for  the  trade  of  Fon  du  Lac  and  its  dep.    July  20,  1822. 

[This  gentleman,  who  died  in  1866,  near  Montreal,  discovered,  in  1804,  the 
source  of  the  Mississippi,  in  advance  of  Schoolcraft  or  Beltrami,  or,  indeed, 
any  other  white  man.] 

Antoine  Deschamps  and  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  for  the  trade  of  Iroquois  river, 
and  its  dep.  August  9,  1822. 

[Antoine  Deschamps,  in  the  year  1792,  was  at  what  was  formerly  called 
La  Ville  de  Maillet,  that  was  afterwards  "  Fort  Clark,"  and  the  village  of 
Peoria.  He  lived  there,  at  least,  until  1811.] 

(Joint  Account.) 

Russell  Farnham,  for  the  trade  of  the  lower  Mississippi  and  its  dep.  10 
August,  1821. 

Consignment  to  address  of  James  Kinzie  for  account  of  him  and  the  American 
Fur  Company ;  for  trade  of  Milliwaki  and  its  dep.  Shipped  per  Schooner 
Ann,  Capt.  Ransom,  from  Michilimackinac,  to  Chicago.  13  Sept.,  1821. 

[The  late  James  Kinzie,  formerly  of  Chicago,  and  half  brother  of  the  late 
John  H.  Kinzie.] 

Joseph  C.  Dechereau,  for  the  trade  of  Penatangonshine  and  its  dep.  5  Oct., 
1821. 

Louis  Pensonneau,  sen.,  for  trade  of  Illinois  river.     August  12,  1822. 

[Louis  Penceneau,  both  senior  and  junior,  lived  at  Peoria;  the  former  built 
a  house  there  soon  after  the  peace  of  1815.] 

(Own  account  and  risk.) 

Etienne  (otherwise  Stephen)  Lamorandiere  for  Trade  at  Drummond's  Island. 
July  21,  1821. 

Michael  Cadotte,  sen.,  for  his  trade  at  La  Pointe,  Lake  Superior.  23  July,  1821. 

Joseph  La  Perche,  alias  St.  Jean,  for  his  trade  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  30 
July,  1821. 

Joseph  Bailly,  for  trade  of  Lake  Michigan,  etc.     10  August,  1821. 

Binette,  Buisson  and  Bibeau,  for  trade  on  the  Illinois  river  and  its  dep.  18 
August,  1821. 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  35 

Joseph  Guerette,  for  trade  on  Illinois  river.     18  August  1821. 

Augustin  Grignon,  John  Lawe,  Jaques  Porlier,  sen.,  Pierre  Grignon,  and 
Louis  Gregnon  all  of  Green  Bay,  for  their  trade  there.  3  Sept.  1821. 

[The  Grignons  were  grandsons  of  Charles  DeLanglade,  who  settled  at 
Green  Bay  as  early  as  1745.] 

Antoine  Deschamps,  for  the  trade  of  Masquigon.     n  Sept.  1821. 

Richard  M.  Price,  for  the  trade  of  Drummond  Island.     5  Sept.  1821. 

Daniel  Dingley,  for  the  trade  of  Folleavoine,  south  Lake  Superior.  July  30, 
1822. 

Edward  Biddle,  from  ist  Oct.  1821  to  15  Aug.  1822. 

Ignace  Pichet.    June  28,  1822. 

Rix  Robinson,  for  trade  of  Grand  River,  Lake  Michigan.      August  23,  1822. 

[He  studied  law  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but  abandoned  it  and  came  to 
Mackinaw  to  take  up  the  business  of  Indian  trader.] 

William  A.  Aitken,  for  his  trade  at  Fond  du  Lac  and  its  dep.      July  4,  1822. 

Jean  Bt.  Beaubien,  for  his  trade  at  Milliwakie. 

[The  late  Col.  J.  B.  Beaubien,  of  Chicago.] 

Pierre  Caune  for  his  trade.     Aug.  31,  1822. 

Washington  Irving,  in  his  "Astoria,"  gives  a  graphic  account  of 
the  occasional  meetings  of  the  partners,  agents  and  employes  of 
the  old  Northwest  Fur  Company,  at  Montreal  and  Fort  William, 
where  they  kept  high  days  and  nights  of  wassail  and  feasting;  of 
song  and  tales  of  adventure  and  hair-breadth  escapes.  But  of 
those  lavish  and  merry  halls  of  the  old  "  Northwest,"  we  need 
suggest  no  comparison  with  the  Agency  dwelling  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  at  Mackinaw,  where  the  expenses  charged  for  the 
year  1821  were  only  $678.49.  In  that  account,  however,  we  notice 
the  following  entries:  31^  gallons  TenerifFe  Wine;  41^  gallons 
Port  Wine;  10  gallons  best  Madeira,  70^  gallons  Red  Wine;  nine 
gallons  brandy ;  one  barrel  flour. 

We  will  close  this  article  by  giving  a  catalogue  of  goods  fur- 
nished for  the  trade  of  the  Chicago  country,  fifty-three  years  ago. 

Arm  bands,  blankets,  broad  cord,  blue  cloth,  brown  Russia  sheeting,  blue 
bernagore  handkerchiefs,  black  silk  do.,  black  ribbon,  boxwood  cornbs,  barrel 
biscuit,  black  bottles,  boys'  roram  hats,  brass  jewsharps,  beads,  blue  cloth 
trowsers,  blue  cloth  capotes,  beaver  shot,  balls,  black  wampum,  barrel  salt 
•colored  ribbon,  colored  gartering,  crimson  bed-lace,  cartouche  knives,  colored 
cock  feathers,  cod  lines,  colored  worsted  thread,  cotton- wick  balls,  cow  bells> 
covered  copper  kettles,  common  needles,  cotton  bandanna  handkerchiefs,  duck 


36  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

shot,  darning  needles,  embossed  serge,  English  playing  cards,  embossed 
brooches,  ear  wheels,  furniture  cotton,  fox  tail  feathers,  flour,  fire  steels,  gun 
flints,  girls'  worsted  hose,  gorgets,  gunpowder,  gurrahs,  highland  striped  garter- 
ing, hawk's  bills,  hair  trunks,  half  axes,  highwines,  hose,  hand  sleds,  Irish 
linen,  Indian  calico  handkerchiefs,  ingrain  ribbon,  ivory  combs,  ingrain  worsted 
thread,  ink  powder,  japaned  quart  jacks,  kettle  chains,  knee  straps,  London 
scots  gartering,  large,  round  ear  bobs,  looking  glasses,  mock  garnets,  maitre  de 
retz,  men's  shirts,  men's  imitation  beaver  hats,  moon  paper,  narrow  cord,  nuns' 
thread,  nails,  northwest  guns,  printed  cotton  shawls,  plain  bath  rings,  pen 
knives,  pierced  brooches,  portage  collars,  pepper,  pins,  pipes,  pork,  scarlet 
cloth,  shoes,  spotted  swan  skin,  silk  ferrets,  scarlet  milled  caps,  scalping  knives, 
St.  Lawrence  shells,  stone  rings,  sturgeon  twine,  stitching  thread,  snuff,  snuff 
boxes,  snaffle  bridles,  stirrup  irons,  tow  sheeting,  therick,  tomahawks,  tobacco, 
vermillion,  white  crash  brushes,  white  molton,  waist  straps,  white  wampum, 
whisky. 

—  •  »  • — 

FIRST  WHITE  CHILD  BORN  IN  CHICAGO. 


[In  undertaking  this  series  of  historical  pamphlets,  one  object  was,  to  place 
in  a  convenient  form,  for  reference,  the  facts  in  relation  to  various  events  in 
the  early  history  of  Chicago,  some  of  which  have  been  so  diversely,  and  yet, 
so  confidently  stated,  that  an  unwonted  traveler  through  those  historical  jun- 
gles and  forests,  might  have  great  difficulty  in  getting  out  of  the  woods.  It  is 
true,  that  it  is  not  always  easy  or  possible  to  get  at  the  exact  and  reliable  facts, 
so  barren  may  be  the  evidence,  or  yet  so  numerous  and  varied  the  convergent 
channels  through  which  it  reaches  us,  tinted  or  discolored  perhaps  on  its  way 
"  Tradition  is  a  careless  story  teller,"  and  our  memories  are  often  defective; 
our  wishes,  while  they  strengthen  our  faith,  also  build  up  our  prejudices,  warp 
our  thoughts,  and  mislead  our  tongues;  so,  honestly,  perhaps,  we  go  on  utter- 
ing untruths,  it  may  be,  for  a  lifetime.  It  is  only  by  diligent  search,  or  by  the 
collation  of  the  numerous  and  oftentimes  contradictory  accounts,  statements 
and  data,  that  satisfactory  results  can  be  arrived  at ;  indeed,  it  has  been  said 
that  written  histories,  ordinarily,  are  at  the  best  only  an  approximation  to  the 
truth.  It  is  to  this  approximation  that  we  would  at  least  strive  to  attain.] 

In  the  Weekly  Democratic  Press  of  March  18,  1854,  appeared 
a  historical  sketch  of  Chicago,  written  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Bross,  one  of 
the  editors,  embodying  the  results  of  considerable  research;  we 
make  an  extract  as  follows: 

"  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  the  oldest  inhabitant  born  in  Chicago, 
and  now  living  here,  is  a  lady — we  beg  pardon  for  saying  it — she  is  an  unmar- 
ried lady.  Be  not  amazed,  ye  spruce,  anxious  bachelors,  and  if  you  count  your 
gray  hairs  by  scores,  stand  aside,  for  we  are  quite  sure  there  is  no  chance  for 
you.  She  is  not  only  an  unmarried  lady,  but  a  young  lady,  only  twenty-two 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  37 

3'ears  of  age,  as  she  was  born  in  Fort  Dearborn  in  the  early  part  of  1832.  We 
have  not  the  pleasure  of  her  acquaintance,  and,  at  the  peril  of  incurring  her 
displeasure,  we  venture  to  state  that  the  oldest  native  inhabitant  of  Chicago,  a 
city  of  more  than  sixty  thousand  people,  is  Miss  Ellen  Hamilton,  the  daughter 
of  our  good  friend,  Col.  R.  J.  Hamilton." 

In  a  communication  concerning  David  McKee,  an  old  Chicago 
resident,  appears  this: 

"  His  oldest  son,  Stephen  J.  McKee,  was  born  Sept.  18,  1830,  and  was  the 
first  white  male  child  born  in  Chicago." 

In  the  Republican  of  Feb.  12,  1866,  is  an  article  from  which  we 
take  the  following: 

"  A  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Russell  E.  Heacock,  born  in  Fort  Dearborn, 
1828,  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  Chicago.  The  honor  has  been  claimed 
by  a  very  respectable  lady,  daughter  of  the  late  Col.  R.  J.  Hamilton,  but  the 
facts  will  not  bear  out  the  claim.  Mrs.  Serena  R.  Noble,  now  a  resident  of 
California,  is  the  person  who  has  the  birthright." 

Alexander  Beaubien,  son  of  the  late  Col.  John  B.  Beaubien,  was 
born  in  Chicago,  Jan.  28,  1822,  and  lives  here  still. 

Mr.  Wentworth,  in  a  late  lecture,  said : 

"  Gen.  John  McNeil,  one  of  the  heroes  at  the  baitle  of  Lundy's  Lane, 
Canada,  in  1814,  was  stationed  here  soon  after  the  reconstruction  of  the  Fort, 
(men  arrived  to  rebuild  it  in  1816)  and  he  claimed  that  one  of  his  daughters 
was  the  first  person  ever  born  in  the  Fort.  A  few  years  since,  I  met  her  on 
Michigan  Avenue,  and  she  said  she  had  been  trying  to  find  the  place  upon 
which  she  was  born,  claiming  the  honor  of  being  the  first  person  born  in  the 
Fort.  As  she  was  unmarried,  I  disliked  to  ask  her  when  it  was.  There  are 
several  persons  now  living  in  Chicago  who  claim  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  white  person  born  here." 

The  late  Col.  Robert  A.  Kinzie  was  born  at  Chicago,  Feb.  8, 1810. 

Maria  Kinzie  (since  Mrs.  Gen.  David  Hunter)  was  born  at  Chi- 
cago, previous  to  the  month  of  October  in  1807. 

John  Harrison  Whistler  (son  of  Lieut.  Wm.  Whistler)  was  born 
in  Fort  Dearborn,  Oct.  7,  1807.  [This  gentleman  died  in  Burling- 
ton, Kan.,  Oct.  23,  1873.] 

Merriweather  Lewis  Whistler,  brother  of  the  above  named  John 
H.  W.,  was  also  born  in  the  Fort  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1805,  and 
was,  without  doubt,  the  first  white  boy  baby,  that  "  blew  his  horn  " 
anywhere  in  this  region,  since  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes  dis- 
charged their  surplus  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  instead  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  as  geologists  tell  us  was  formerly  the  case.  But  the 
young  lad  was  drowned  in  Newport,  Ky.,  when  some  seven  years 
old. 


38  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

The  first  person,  however,  born  at  Chicago  of  white  parentage, 
was  a  sister  of  the  above  named  Maria  and  Robert  A.  Kinzie,  and 
daughter  of  John  and  Eleanor  Kinzie.  The  event  happened,  in 
what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Kinzie  House  on  the  north  side, 
(so  Mrs.  Whistler  tells  us,)  and  the  little  lady  first  saw  the  light 
upon  the  shore  of  the  Divine  River,  (a  name  sometimes  applied  to 
the  creek  here  in  former  days,  though  scarcely  divine  at  present,  if 
purity  is  an  essential  attribute,)  on  one  of  the  days  of  December, 
1804.  [Her  published  obituary,  gave  the  date  of  her  birth  as  Dec. 
1805;  yet  Mrs.  Whistler  assures  us  that  it  occurred  earlier  by  some 
months,  than  that  of  her  son  Lewis,  and  that  it  was  in  winter  or 
cold  weather.  Allowing  the  month  to  have  been  December,  agreea- 
ble to  the  obituary  referred  to,  the  conclusion  must  be,  that  the  year 
was  that  of  1804.]  In  due  time,  she  was  given  the  Christian  name 
of  Ellen  Marion,  and  her  playmates  in  early  childhood  were  often 
the  Indian  children,  with  whom  she  gathered  the  summer  flowers 
along  the  sedgy  banks  of  the  quiet  stream.  But  the  war  came,  the 
Fort  was  abandoned,  and  then  occurred  an  exhibition  of  brutal 
carnage  which  savages  so  delight  in;  it  was  the  massacre  at  Chi- 
cago. But  the  household  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  after  various  perils  and 
escapes,  under  the  care  of  friendly  captors,  were  taken  to  St.  Joseph, 
and  thence  to  Detroit.  The  re-building  of  Fort  Dearborn  brought 
back  the  Kinzies  to  their  old  home. 

It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  say  that  Miss  Kinzie  received  her 
education  at  Middletown,  Ct.,  and  was  married  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen to  Dr.  Alexander  Wolcott,  Indian  agent  at  Chicago.  [It  was, 
we  believe  in  1821,  that  John  Hamlin,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  living 
in  Fulton  county  before  that  county  was  organized,  was  sent  for,  and 
officiated  in  tying  the  knot.]  Doctor  Wolcott  died  in  1830,  and  his 
widow  subsequently  married  Hon.  George  C.  Bates,  an  early  resi- 
dent of  Chicago,  now  (1875)  living  in  Salt  Lake  City.  We  have 
been  unable  to  procure  a  "  counterfeit  presentment "  of  the  features  of 


Mrs.  Bates,  and  possibly  there  is  none  in  existence;  if  so,  it  is  cer- 
tainly a  matter  of  regret. 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  39 

THE  PIONEER  LAWYER  OF  CHICAGO. 


[In  a  historical  article  in  a  late  number  of  the  Chicago  Times,  it  is  asserted 
that  "  the  first  lawyer  who  came  to  Chicago  to  make  his  living  by  his  profes- 
sion and  nothing  else,  was  Judge  Giles  Spring;  there  had  been  other  lawyers 
here  before,  but  they  came  as  circuit  riders,  accompanying  the  Court,  etc."  The 
drift  of  this  seems  to  be,  to  ignore  a  plain  fact  in  our  local  history.  Now  we 
suggest  that  the  Times  reporter,  for  the  lack  of  a  knowledge  of  the  case,  has 
innocently  made  a  blunder  in  the  matter.  It  would  certainly  confer  honor 
upon  no  one,  to  attempt  to  hide  a  palpable  truth  in  the  annals  of  early  Chicago. 
Twenty-five  years  before  Judge  Spring  came  here,  possibly  before  he  was  born, 
Mr.  Heacock  was  licensed  to  practice  law.  He  then  lived  in  Illinois,  which  at 
that  time  was  part  of  the  Territory  of  Indiana.  That  the  mere  circumstance 
of  Mr.  Heacock's  learning  in  early  life  the  carpenter's  trade,  or  that  he  could 
and  did,  with  true  Yankee  adaptability,  turn  his  hand  to  whatever  offered,  that 
he  farmed  it,  kept  tavern,  etc.,  as  well  as  to  practice  law,  for  his  support,  should 
blot  out  of  the  record,  his  title  of  the  earliest  practicing  lawyer  of  Chicago, 
seems  a  little  strange.  '  It  was  no  fault  of  Mr.  Heacock's,  that  Chicago  did  not, 
for  several  years  after  his  arrival,  afford  business  and  a  living  for  one  of  that 
calling.  He  came  here  nearly  six  years  before  Judge  Spring;  he  helped  to 
organize  the  County  of  Cook,  and  furthermore,  brought  the  first  suits  in  the 
Circuit  Court  here.  If  this  does  not  confirm  to  the  name  of  Mr.  Heacock  the 
title  which  we  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this  article,  we  must  ask  what  would  ? 

From  an  author,  writing  in  1866,  (understood  to  have  been  an  early  Chicago 
settler,)  in  whose  candor,  intelligence  and  accuracy  we  have  confidence,  the 
greater  part  of  the  items,  and  much  of  the  language  which  follow,  are  taken. 
Nov.  18,  1875.] 

Russell  E.  Heacock  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Ct.  in  1781;  lost  his 
father  at  the  age  of  seven;  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter;  subse- 
quently travelled  westward,  and  in  1806  was  studying  law  in  St. 
Louis.  Mr.  H.  was  licensed  in  Indiana  Territory  Dec.  29,  1808  to 


practice  law,  and  lived  mostly  in  the  counties  of  Jackson  and 
Union  in  Illinois  until  1823,  when  he  returned  to  the  east  as  far  as 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.  He  resided  there  until  1827,  when  he  again  came 
west  and  arrived  here  on  a  sail-vessel,  July  4th,  of  that  year.  In 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1828,  Mr.  Heacock  and  family  were 
living  inside  Fort  Dearborn.  (We  should  have  said  before,  that  he 


40  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

married  his  wife  in  Illinois,  during  his  earlier  residence.)  He  sub- 
sequently lived  several  miles  up  the  South  branch  occupying  a 
ranche  or  small  farm  at  what  was  called  "  Heacock's  Point,"  and 
coming  in  to  the  village  as  occasion  required.  In  1831  he  received 
a  license  to  keep  tavern;  in  1833  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace;  in 
1835  his  law  office  was  opposite  the  Exchange  Coffee  House,  cor- 
ner of  Lake  and  Franklin  streets. 

It  will  serve  perhaps  to  indicate  a  marked  trait  in  Mr.  Heacock's 
composition,  (that  of  following  the  guidance  of  his  own  views,  in- 
dependent of  or  in  opposition  to,  as  it  might  be,  those  of  all  others,) 
to  say,  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens,  to  consider  the  expediency 
of  proceeding  agreeable  to  the  statute  to  incorporate  the  Town, 
twelve  votes  were  cast  for  incorporation,  and  one  (Mr.  Heacock's) 
against  it.  Yet  with  his  peculiarities,  it  is  believed  to  have  been 
truthfully  said  of  Mr.  Heacock  "  as  a  public  speaker  he  was  pleas- 
ing, instructive,  and  often  eloquent;  his  earnest  and  straightfor- 
ward out-spokenness,  his  fine  conversational  powers,  his  generosity 
and  frankness  of  character,  and  his  inexhaustable  fund  of  narrative 
and  anecdote,  made  him  most  companionable."  Besides  assisting 
at  Vandalia  (the  former  State  Capital,)  to  organize  the  County  of 
Cook  and  bringing  the  first  suits  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  this 
County,  many  of  the  provisions  of  our  State  Constitution,  were 
originated  and  advocated  by  him,  long  before  the  convention  by 
whom  it  was  framed  was  assembled.  [His  son  Reuben  B.  Hea- 
cock was  a  delegate  in  the  convention  of  1847,  fr°m  Cook  County.] 
All  questions  of  a  public  nature  interested  him,  but  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  and  its  completion  was  to  him  the  great  ques- 
tion on  which  hinged  the  welfare  of  Chicago  and  the  State  of 
Illinois.  His  clear  and  practical  mind  saw  the  financial  inability  of 
the  State  to  complete  the  work  as  proposed  by  the  authorities  in 
their  bill  for  its  construction,  passed  by  the  Legislature.  He 
immediately  predicted  its  failure,  for  which  it  is  said  he  was  assailed 
by  every  public  man  in  the  State.  The  plan  upon  which  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  was  proposed  to  be  constructed,  was 
literally  a  ship  canal  from  the  lakes  to  the  Mississippi  River,  then 
characterized  by  him  and  known  as  "  the  deep  cut."  He  then 
originated  and  proposed  a  plan  upon  which  to  construct  the  canal, 
which  would  cost  the  State  less  than  two  millions  of  dollars,  called 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  4! 

by  him  the  "  shallow  cut."  For  his  persistent  advocacy  of  this 
plan,  he  was  censured  and  ridiculed  by  tongue  and  types,  and  the 
satire  showered  upon  him  from  all  quarters,  found  aid  in  carica- 
tures. But  if  this  derision  was  popular,  if  with  the  public  approval 
Mr.  Heacock  was  given  the  sobriquet  of  "shallow  cut,"  it  was 
the  humor  of  the  hour,  and  the  season;  yet  that  was  halted  at 
length,  and  the  clamor  came  to  an  end.  Mr.  Heacock  had  his 
triumph  at  last;  for  after  the  State  had  become  bankrupt,  its  re- 
sources were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Trustees,  who  adopted  Mr. 
Heacock's  plan,  and  completed  the  work  in  the  spring  of  1848,  less 
than  three  years.  Mr.  H.  was  a  democrat  of  the  Jackson  school  of 
politics,  but  he  was  also  an  abolitionist,  when  it  was  a  reproach  to 
be  known  as  such.  His  writings  and  speeches  on  the  subject,  used 
principally  to  refer  to  the  overwhelming  influence  of  the  slave 
power  upon  the  general  government.  This  was  a  subject,  then 
but  little  thought  of,  and  he  used  to  demonstrate  its  effects,  in  the 
distribution  of  official  patronage  by  the  federal  executive. 

The  magnitude  of  the  great  west,  its  undeveloped  resources  and 
its  future  greatness,  were  as  clearly  seen  by  him  then,  as  by  others 
since.  He  predicted  the  great  future  of  Chicago,  and  invested  in 
the  real  estate  of  City  and  County,  but  which  the  financial  crash  of 
1837,  involved  mostly  beyond  redemption.  It  is  believed  that  those 
vexations  and  embarrassments  impaired  his  health  beyond  recovery. 
In  1843  he  had  an  attack  of  paralysis,  which  confined  him  helpless 
to  his  room  until  1849,  when  he  died  of  cholera.  Mrs.  Heacock 
survived  her  husband  but  a  few  months. 

Squire  Heacock  as  he  was  commonly  called,  we  can  say  was 
physically  and  intellectually  a  tall  man;  the  Indians  who  were 
numerous  here  in  those  days,  feared  and  respected  him,  and  they 
called  his  eyes  "  the  two  full  moons."  He  was  self  made  and  self 
educated,  far  in  advance  of  his  time,  in  all  his  views  of  public 
matters,  and  having  little  sympathy  from  the  public  generally. 
Yet  those  who  well  knew  him,  have  since  appreciated  his  far  see- 
ing sagacity. 


42  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

fORT  DEARBORN;    WHEN  CHRISTENED. 


It  has  been  often  stated,  that  only  after  the  re-building  of 
the  Fort  (completed  in  1817,)  it  first  received  the  name,  Fort  Dear- 
born. This  was  incorrect,  for  in  1812,  the  name  seems  to  have 
been  generally  known,  as  the  Eastern  newspapers  mostly  so 
referred  to  the  garrison  on  learning  the  news  of  the  abandonment 
of  the  Fort  by  the  troops,  and  the  immediate  treachery  of  the 
Indians.  A  letter  from  the  War  Department  admits  this,  though 
their  records  fail  to  impart  anything  definite  of  an  earlier  date. 
Yet  evidence  from  other  sources  has  not  been  wanting,  to  confirm 
the  statement,  that  this  post  was  called  "  Fort  Dearborn  "  in  the 
year  it  was  first  finished,  in  1804.  The  fact  appeared  in  the  accounts 
and  papers  of  the  elder  John  Kinzie,  who  was  here  that  year. 
Those  documents,  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire,  were  in  the  library 
of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.  But  a  living  witness  is  here 
to-day,  October  30,  1875,  who  was  here  when  the  Fort  was  built  in 
1803-4,  an^  sne  has  assured  us  of  the  fact  above  stated;  we  allude  of 
course  to  Mrs.  Whistler. 


CHICAGO  IN  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 


BY    KNEE-BUCKLES. 


By  the  side  of  this  sea  of  fresh  waters,  by  the  beach-pebbles 
skirting  the  land,  where  the  waves  had  long  rolled  and  tumbled,  in 
fringes  and  foam  on  the  sand;  'where  the  ice-spray  long  had 
sparkled,  in  the  light  of  the  sun  or  the  stars,  dashing  wildly  against 
winter's  barrier,  by  the  ridges  and  dunes  and  sand-bars;  by  the 
lawn  that  spread  out  by  the  river,  where  savages  led  the  war  dance, 
where  Marquette  once  lifted  the  cross,  where  were  planted  the 
Lilies  of  France;  a  city  has  grown  up  on  the  marshes,  like  Venice 
that  mistress  of  old,  but  a  greater  than  Venice  here  flourishes,  by 
the  Adriatic  of  this  western  world.  Renowned  was  the  plat  by 
the  creek  side,  where  the  stockade  was  afterwards  reared,  where 
old  time  and  the  weary  stranger,  stopped  to  "  shake  dust  from 
their  beard;"  and  by  side  of  this  prairie  stream,  stood  the  wig- 
wams of  a  dusky  race,  of  frames  made  of  poles  tied  at  top,  or  bent 
over  in  arches  of  grace;  spread  with  bark  of  linden  or  elm,  or  hide 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  43 

of  the  elk  or  wild  ox,  with  mats  inside  made  of  rushes,  or  of  bear 
skin,  or  wolf,  or  of  fox.  Lifted  out  on  the  bank  of  this  bayou,  not 
a  gondola,  shallop,  or  ark,  but  the  bark  of  the  Indian,  was  a  canoe, 
and  this  famed  canoe  was  of  bark.  It  is  said  that  the  leek  or  wild 
onion,  once  found  in  abundance  just  here,  with  a  vagrant  of  bad 
habits  and  manners,  joined  in  a  league  that  was  queer;  'twas  a  rank 
conspiracy  to  foist,  upon  the  shore  of  a  harmless  bayou,  the  odor  of 
a  similar  name,  as  that  called  by  the  red  men,  Chicago.  We 
think,  though  the  tale  was  mere  slander,  and  that  Chicago  was 
named  from  a  chief,  so  we  acquit  the  Mephitis  Americana,  and 
the  little  wild  onion  leaf.  The  sluggish,  small  stream  or  lagoon, 
that  by  lake-side  meandered  south,  was,  in  summer,  a  narrow, 
green  pond,  when  the  sand-bars  had  choked  up  its  mouth ;  for 
'twas  only  when  floods  and  high  water,  pushing  out  with  a  fortu- 
nate tide,  bore  the  creek  on  to  meeting  its  sweet-heart,  and  made 
the  lake  beauty  its  bride.  In  spring  time  with  thaws  and  with 
freshet,  the  river  ran  full  in  its  bed,  and  the  natives  they  cast  their 
bone  hooks,  catching  red-fin,  and  perch  and  bull-head;  here  was  a 
clump  of  green  willows,  and  a  few  scattering  oaks  might  be  seen, 
but  aside  from  the  spots  of  dry  prairie,  there  were  many  wet  places 
between.  The  wild  ducks  lit  down  in  the  slough,  foreshadowing 
a  city  park  lake,  where  the  cygnets  now  come  at  the  call,  of  tiny 
maidens  with  nuts  and  with  cake;  and  where  Beaubien  since  pad- 
dled his  ferry,  the  bears  and  the  deer  swam  o'er,  and  where  the 
tunnels  step  down  'neath  the  river,  the  otter  long  tunnelled  before. 
In  the  former  moist  days  of  early  spring,  by  river,  bog-channel 
and  slough,  from  the  Lake  to  Des  Plaines  passed  the  Indian,  with- 
out stepping  from  his  craft,  his  canoe;  and  so  'twas  in  days  long 
passed,  twixt  the  basin  of  Lakes  and  Mississippi,  the  dividing  ridge 
was  paddled  across,  where  would  spread  out  a  wonderful  city. 


A  RELIC;    WHERE  IS  IT? 


"  Some  twenty  years  since,  it  was  told  in  a  Chicago  daily,  that  a 
brass  cannon,  a  part  of  the  armament  of  Fort  Dearborn,  thrown 
into  the  river  at  the  evacuation  of  1812,  had  a  few  years  before 
been  dredged  up  from  the  river  bed.  Where  is  that  piece?  If  the 
War  Department  took  it  away,  ought  it  not  now  to  be  returned  ? " 
— Sidney  S.  Hurlbufs  Memorial  Chart. 


44  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

WHAT  BECAME  OF  IT? 


We  have  heard  inquiry  made  without  satisfactory  response,  as  to 
what  had  become  of  that  metallic  box  and  its  contents,  which  were 
placed  within,  the  northeast  corner-stone  of  the  late  Court  House 
at  the  time  it  was  built.  Neither  Mr.  Mackin  or  Mr.  Knerr,  the 
purchasers  of  the  debris  know  anything  about  the  matter.  The 
aforesaid  receptacle  is  said  to  have  contained  various  documents  not 
elsewhere  to  be  found,  and  among  them  a  list  of  the  names  of 
every  dweller  in  Chicago  in  1833,  outside  of  Fort  Dearborn.  We 
would  be  pleased  to  learn  of  the  safety,  in  proper  hands,  of  those 
records,  as  their  destruction  would  be  another  "  lost  pleiad,"  among 
the  blotted  out  lights  of  our  local  history. 


A   SUGGESTION. 


"  A  few  copyists  in  a  twelvemonth,  would  have  preserved  to  Chicago  and 
earthly  immortality,  names  and  events,  which  now  exist  only  in  ashes." 

As  a  text  embodying  both  a  precept  and  an  example,  we  extract 
the  above,  from  an  article  referring  to  the  then  recently  burned 
Library  of  The  Chicago  Historical  Society.  Yet,  if  the  Histori- 
cal Society's  collections,  were  eminently  the  most  important  loss 
sustained  by  history  in  America,  they  were  not  by  any  means  all 
the  documents  which  have  met  destruction,  with  (as  to  numerous 
manuscripts,)  no  duplicate  copies,  existing  elsewhere.  Many  of  the 
ancient  town  records  in  New  England,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of 
the  country,  have  been  destroyed  by  fire,  or  else  are  decayed, 
illegible,  or  departed  altogether  from  other  causes;  and  we  might 
cite  numerous  other  cases.  All  our  records  are  perishable,  whether 
upon  metal,  stone,  wood,  parchment,  paper  or  other  material. 
Damp  and  drouth,  heat  and  cold,  the  attrition  of  force,  disintegra- 
tion by  chemical  contact,  indeed,  all  the  elements  which  are  con- 
stantly working  changes  in  the  natural  world,  make  it  a  mere 
question  of  time  how  soon  any  record  not  re-created  or  renewed, 
shall  be  effaced.  We  have  in  remembrance,  numerous  instances, 
where  the  value  of  single  copies  of  important  documents  stowed 
away,  have  scarcely  been  appreciated  until  the  fact  has  transpired, 
of  their  irrecoverable  loss;  that  our  ideas  hitherto,  of  fire  proof 
protection  have  been  fallacious;  and  that  it  cannot  be  expected, 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  45 

that  every  library  or  association,  that  all  public  archives  or  private 
curators  will  have  provided,  ready  at  one's  elbow,  a  "  Fidelity " 
safety  vault.  Yet,  it  must  be  conceded,  that  the  acquisition  of  any 
treasures  to  be  heaped  up  or  pigeon-holed,  can  hardly  be  com- 
mended, unless  means  are  taken,  for  their  use  as  well  as  preserva- 
tion. Where  is  the  way  then,  or  upon  what  can  we  build  a  reasona- 
ble hope  of  perpetuity  and  service,  for  valuable  historical  writings, 
which  exist  in  but  a  single  copy?  The  answer  is  a  brief  one,  yet 
the  remedy,  in  the  range  of  probabilities;  would  be  effective;  it  is, 
to  multiply  the  copies,  in  types  or  otherwise,  and  distribute  far  and 

near. 

1  •  • 

THAT  SIL  VER  PITCHER. 


In  the  second  month  A.  D.  1853,  might  be  seen  at  the  manufac- 
tory of  Messrs.  Speer  and  Cosper  in  Chicago,  a  new  and  massive 
silver  pitcher,  which  a  morning  paper  noticed  as  follows:  "  Made 
for  one  of  our  citizens, — one  of  the  most  superb  pieces  of  plate  this 
western  world  can  boast  of.  There  is  engraved  on  it  the  Coat  of 
Arms  of  his  ancestors,  and  the  raised,  embossed  and  fretted  work, 
are  rich  and  most  effective.  Who  the  owner  is,  to  us,  is  a  mystery ; 
all  we  were  told  was,  that  he  is  an  old  and  time-honored  citizen ; 
that  he  was  here  when  the  Indian's  war-whoop  spread  terror  along 
the  bank  of  the  lake, — that  he  took  part  in  the  terrific  struggle  of 
the  Indian  War,  the  sanguineness  of  which,  44,000  out  of  the 
45,000  people  now  in  Chicago,  can  form  no  conception;  has  grown 
up  with  the  city,  and  now  enjoys  the  fruits  of  his  long  and  arduous 
labors.  Long  may  he  live,  and  mav  those  fruits  increase  upon 
him." 


CORRECTION:  On  page  15,  the  name  "Robert"  Hunter  inad- 
vertently appears,  instead  of  David  Hunter,  (of  firm  of  K.  &  H,) 
as  it  ought  to  have  been. 

Also,  we  are  told  that  the  name  of  John  Davlin  ought  not  to 
have  been  starred;  we  knew  Mr.  D.  in  N.  Y.,  some  forty  years 
ago,  and  are  pleased  to  learn  that  our  information  was  erroneous, 
and  that  he  still  retains  a  place  above  ground. 


46  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

FIRST   THINGS   IN   CHICAGO. 


THE  first  negro  slave  in  Chicago,  of  which  we  have  heard,  was 
"  Black  Jim,"  owned  by  John  Kinzie,  and  brought  here  by  him  in 
1804. 

THE  first  coroner's  inquest  was  over  the  body  of  a  dead  Indian. 

THE  first  civil  execution  among  the  whites,  here,  was  that  of 
John  Stone,  who  was  hanged  July  10,  1840,  for  the  murder  of  Mrs. 
Thompson.  The  place  of  execution  was  the  race-course,  some 
three  miles  south  from  the  river,  near  the  lake  shore,  back  of 
Myrick's  tavern.  A  portion  of  Col.  Beaubien's  6oth  Regiment 
was  improvised  as  a  guard  for  the  occasion,  the  command  of  which 
Col.  B.  transferred  to  Lieut.  Col.  Seth  Johnson.  The  return  of 
the  procession  brought  back  the  body  of  Stone,  which  was  given 
by  the  sheriff  to  the  doctors  for  dissection.  [We  will  here  refer  to 
what  was  probably  the  last  execution  at  this  place  of  an  Indian  by 
his  comrades.  It  occurred  in  the  fall  of  1832,  or  the  ensuing 
winter,  after  a  council,  or  their  form  of  a  trial.  Being  adjudged 
worthy  of  death,  the  man  was  taken  outside,  into  the  brush,  south 
of  Randolph  street,  near  where  Market  street  is  now,  and  executed, 
.probably  by  shooting.  Our  informant,  who  was  an  early  settler 
here,  says  such  was  the  statement  confidently  told  at  the  time, 
though  he  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  matter  beyond  the 
assurance  of  others.] 

THE  first  map  of  Chicago  was  by  James  Thompson,  the  sur- 
veyor employed  by  the  State  Canal  Commissioners  to  survey  and 
lay  out  the  town,  or  rather,  village.  This  map  bore  date  August 
4,  1830,  and  the  original  was  in  the  Recorder's  Office,  and  was 
probably  burned.  It  is  understood  that  the  first  plat  of  the  village 
gave  to  Chicago  a  public  levee  upon  the  plan  of  the  western  river 
towns.  Our  levee,  accordingly,  was  located  on  the  south  side, 
from  South  Water  street  to  the  river.  But  the  lake  vessels  could 
not  find  it  expedient  to  conform  to  the  ways  of  the  shallow  craft  of 
the  Mississippi  valley  waters,  and  so  the  Chicago  levee  was 
abandoned,  and  the  ground  was  sold,  docked  and  built  upon. 

THE  first  street  leading  to  Lake  Michigan,  was  laid  out  April 
25,  1832;  it  commenced  at  where  was  called  the  east  end  of  Water 


CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES.  47 

street,  and  is  described  by  Jedediah  Wooley,  surveyor,  as  follows: 
"  from  the  east  end  of  Water  street "  (at  the  west  line  of  the 
Reservation,  or  State  street?)  "in  the  town  of  Chicago,  to  Lake 
Michigan;  direction  of  said  road  is  south  88^  degrees  east,  from 
the  street  to  the  lake,  18  chains  50  links.  Said  street  was  laid  out 
50  feet  wide.  The  viewers  on  this  occasion  also  believe  that  said 
road  is  of  public  utility  and  a  convenient  passage  from  the  town  to 
the  lake." 

THE  first  extended  highway  regularly  laid  out  in  Chicago,  was 
"  The  Green  Bay  Road,"  in  1835,  under  the  direction  of  Gen. 
Scott,  U.  S.  A. 

THE  first  white  man's  tannery,  was  that  of  John  Miller.  It  stood 
(1831)  near  to  and  on  the  north  side  of,  his  brother,  Samuel  Miller's 
tavern,  near  the  Junction. 

THE  first  regularly  appointed  auctioneer  was  James  Kinzie. 

THE  first  debating  Society  formed  here,  was  organized  during 
the  winter  1831-2  comprising  nearly  all  the  male  population,  mostly 
within  the  Fort.  Col.  J.  B.  Beaubien  was  chosen  President. 

THE  first  Druggist  was  Philo  Carpenter,  who  arrived  in  Chicago 
in  the  month  of  July,  1832;  his  store  was  a  small  log  building,  near 
where  is  now  the  east  end  of  Lake  Street  Bridge.  Mr.  C.  next 
occupied  a  log  building,  just  vacated  by  Geo.  W.  Dole  who  had 
removed  into  his  new  store. 

THE  first  steamboat  fuel  furnished  by  Chicago,  was  in  1832, 
when  Captain  Walker  of  the  "  Sheldon  Thompson  "  bought  an 
old  log  cabin  and  took  it  on  board  for  his  return  down  the  Lake. 

THE  first  printed  list  of  Advertised  Letters  was  in  number  seven 
of  Mr.  Calhoun's  paper,  the  Chicago  Democrat,  Jan.  7,  1834. 
The  list  comprised  one  letter,  namely,  for  Erastus  Bowen. 

THE  first  Fair  was  held  by  "  the  ladies  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  of  this  Town,"  on  the  i8th  June,  1835,  and  is  referred 
to  in  the  village  newspaper,  as  "  a  novelty  in  Chicago." 

NOT  in  1835,  (as  stated  Dec.  5,  1875  in  one  of  the  Chicago  Times 
articles  headed  "  By  Gone  Days,"  those  pleasantly  told  stories, 
even  though  occasionally  marred  with  typographical,  accidental 
or  sensational  errors,  which  we  shall  notice  hereafter,)  but  July  4, 
1836,  was  the  first  spadeful  of  earth  thrown  out,  in  the  digging  of 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal. 


48  CHICAGO    ANTIQUITIES. 

THE  first  ferryman  was  Mark  Beaubien. 

THE  first  rock  for  the  harbor  piers  was  furnished  by  John  K. 
Boyer. 

THE  first  dray  in  Chicago  was  shipped  from  the  Hudson  by 
Philo  Carpenter;  we  think,  also,  that  the  first  specimen  of  that 
renowned  pleasure-vehicle  of  New  England,  "the  one-horse  shay," 
which  appeared  here,  was  when  that  gentleman  and  his  bride  rode 
into  the  village  in  one,  in  the  spring  of  1834. 

THE  first  two- wheeled  pleasure  carriage  seen  here  was  that  owned 
by  Col.  J.  B.  Beaubien,  and  brought  from  the  East.  It  is  said  that 
the  villagers,  upon  its  arrival,  paid  it  distinguished  honor,  "  turning 
out  in  procession  and  parading  the  streets." 

THE  first  engraver  on  wood  or  metal  was  S.  D.  Childs,  senr. 

THE  first  church  bell  was  placed  upon  the  Unitarian  Church 
edifice,  January,  1845. 

THE  first  vessel  larger  than  a  "  shell "  built  here  was  the 
"Clarissa"  launched  May,  1836. 

THE  first  public  edifice  erected  by  the  County  of  Cook,  was  an 
Estray  Pen. 

THE  first  "  balloon  "  built  in  Chicago  or  elsewhere,  (a  popular 
style  of  spike-fastened  light  frame  buildings,  which  astonished  by 
their  firmness  the  old-fashioned  mortise  and  tenon  builders,)  was 
erected  in  the  fall  of  1832  by  Geo.  W.  Snow,  and  stood  near  the 
Lake  shore.  It  was  but  a  slight  affair,  yet  served  for  the  while,  as 
his  place  of  business,  and  to  protect  his  goods  or  freight  received 
by  vessel.  The  greater  share  of  said  freight,  we  may  here  add, 
was  made  up  of  whisky  or  other  kinds  of  the  ardent. 

THE  first  steam  engine  built  in  Chicago,  was  made  and  put  up 
by  Ira  Miltimore.  It  was  used  to  run  a  saw-mill  located  on  the 
north  branch,  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Archibald  Clybourn. 

THE  first  suggestion  we  think  on  record  (or  off")  by  a  Chicagoan 
or  indeed  "  any  other  man  "  for  the  establishment,  in  each  of  our 
Collegiate  Institutions,  of  a  Professorship  to  occupy  "  a  Chair  of 
Integrity,"  for  the  teaching  of  that  ancient  and  important  accom- 
plishment honesty,  now  so  rare  in  our  public  men  or  officials,  (not 
to  speak  of  others,)  was  contained  in  an  address  by  the  Hon.  Wm. 
B.  Ogden,  not  long  since,  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Chicago  University, 


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